Final Fantasy VIII: A Mirrored Fantasy
by CousinKitchen
Summary: What if Laguna married Julia? What if Caraway was the one sent to Esthar and married Raine? What if Squall and Rinoa's situations were switched? Read and find out.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I first just need to mention that I do not own FFVIII or any of its characters.  
  
A note from CousinKitchen: Two times a charm. This is my first official FFVIII fan fiction. I have read several great fictions for this particular game. I am hoping that this story can measure up to them somehow. This fiction is not meant to copy anybody else's fan work. If someone else has done this plot before, I apologize, because I have yet to find it. If I am copying anyone, please e-mail me at [1]cousinkitchen@yahoo.com and tell me so and I'll remove the story at once.  
  
This fan work is a "what if?" I have read several great stories of continuations, if not diverse opinions of the ending. At first I wanted to try my hand at it, but I got to thinking. What if Rinoa was in Squall's place and vise versa? What if Laguna married Julia? What if Caraway was the one sent to Esthar and married Raine? Lame I know, but I'm sure I can't be the only one to think about this. Please enjoy and R&R!  
  
Final Fantasy VIII:  
  
A Mirrored Fantasy  
  
Prologue  
  
Laguna stared at the blushing bride in front of him. He could barely believe that he was actually doing this. He just wished that he could have had his best men with him. It was too bad that they were sent to Esthar with that Caraway fellow instead of him. That didn't matter though, they would return soon, and when they do, they will find him a happily married man.  
  
"Damn it!" Caraway yelled at himself. "I can't believe that I was so stupid and confident as to think that we could have surprised them. As soon as we get out of this, I'm leaving the service for good and starting a family."  
  
Kiros looked at the disheartened leader. He was better than Laguna, but he still missed that blundering fool. He just wished that Laguna were there now with them with his optimism that everything would turn out the way it should. "At least he got to stay in Deling with Julia." He chuckled to himself. "He's probably made himself look more of the idiot without us there."  
  
Ward felt the same as Kiros. He missed the fearless leader, or should he say optimistic. "Caraway is a great guy." He convinced himself. "He is a good leader, but he ain't Laguna."  
  
The three traveled the winding tunnels, of what looked like some sort of a mine, with Estharian soldiers hot on their tails.  
  
"Think that we can break through?" Kiros asked Caraway.  
  
The man gave a look of uncertainty and turned away from his comrades. Luckily he spotted a latter. He gestured towards their means of salvation. "Lets go!" He ordered his men.  
  
"Great, a dead end." Kiros said stating the obvious.  
  
Kiros thought to himself. "What would Laguna do in this situation?" Then he spotted them. "Look! Boats! We're home free! All we gotta do is swim for it!"  
  
Caraway eyed the man as if he were crazy. "You think we could survive the jump?"  
  
Kiros wasn't sure himself, but it was worth a try. "We don't know unless we try. Oh crap!"  
  
The three men looked behind themselves to find that they were surrounded. "What now, Caraway?" Ward asked.  
  
"We'll fight, then jump."  
  
The other two men nodded.  
  
The battle against the small army of Esthar soldiers seemed to be going their way, until one soldier used a move that injured a three of the men.  
  
"What...the hell?" Kiros groaned. "How did they...?"  
  
"Are you two okay?" Caraway asked in concern as he dispatched the last soldier.  
  
"...Car...away...La...gu...na..." Ward rasped out.  
  
"It looks like his throat was injured." Kiros stated the obvious.  
  
"Are you two up for jumping?"  
  
"Oh, what the Hell." The two men thought to themselves as they went over the edge of the cliff.  
  
The story begins...  
  
Author's note: I'm sorry for posting then retracting. A couple of the readers of the original story mentioned that if I kept it going the way it was, it would be exactly like the game. I don't really want that. Although the ball room scene would have been pretty interesting. I can just picture Squall walking up to Rinoa saying, "You're going to like me. You're going to like me..."  
  
Anyway I decided that I want things to stray from the story, more than stick to it. I hope you at least like the prologue, and hopefully I can get the first chapter out soon. Till then...  
  
References  
  
1. mailto:cousinkitchen@yahoo.com 


	2. The Start Of A Long Journey

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII or any of its characters.  
  
CousinKitchen: All right, as promised. Here is the first chapter. You be the judges. Should I continue? If you think that I am straying too much from the personalities, I'm sorry. I tried. It's just so hard. I had to have Squall say something. Hopefully, if you like, in chapters to come, he will sound more like Squall.  
  
Please R&R.  
  
Chapter One:  
  
The Start Of A Long Journey  
  
A young man walked along the outskirts of the large city of Deling. In his hand he held a gunblade that he received when he was eight years old. That being one of two things that he had accepted from his father. The other was paid lessons on how to use the weapon. He thought that both would be useful things for the future he wanted. The young man was surprised that his father would do such a thing, since he hated fighting. But some how he knew that he liked the thrill of fighting.  
  
The young seventeen-year-old was on a search outside the noisy city. He was looking for a Wendigo, one of the most vicious monsters near Deling. Once, when he was ten, he was told never to go out alone and fight monsters, that he always needed at least one other person with him. He preferred being alone. And now was the time to prove to himself that he was better off that way.  
  
As he surveyed his surroundings, he recalled what brought him out there in the first place...  
  
"Father?" The young man entered the study of the large mansion, in which he lived. He found his father sitting behind his desk at a computer typing, what looked to be, an article. The young mans father had long, dark hair that went to his shoulders and green eyes. He was about in his mid forties, but the sparkle in his eyes and his out-going personality made him look and sound much younger.  
  
"Yes?" The older man spoke with out turning his head to acknowledge his sons presence.  
  
"I can't believe him." The young man said to himself. "Why do you do that?"  
  
"Do what?" This time the father turned his head to look at his upset son.  
  
"What a moron." "Why do you not pay attention to me?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" The older man began scratching the back of his neck in confusion.  
  
"All my life, you have never been a father to me. Each time I've come to talk to you, you have been on that blasted computer! I'm not even sure if you're my real father. Maybe I should just call you Laguna!" The young man began to pace in front of his father's desk.  
  
Laguna was unsure of how to handle this situation. He was never good at talking. He was, however, shocked at his son's outburst. He had never really talked with his son. In fact, his son never really talked, period. Each time he tried, the boy would ignore him and stay silent. "I really don't know what you are talking about. What suddenly brought this up? Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"  
  
The young man stopped pacing and shook his head.  
  
"Then tell me, Squall. What is it that you want to talk to me about?"  
  
Squall decided to be blunt so he could just leave. Having this particular conversation with his father was making him sick. "I'm leaving. I'm going to Timber."  
  
"What? What do you mean you're leaving? What's in Timber?" Laguna was unsure of the whole situation. But he knew that no matter what the causes and circumstances, Squall would leave no matter what he said.  
  
"I just want to leave here. In Timber, I'll have more of a future. All the information I need is there. I can also be of use by helping people out..."  
"For money, I bet." Squall gave a slight nod. Laguna glared at his son. He knew exactly what Squall was planning. "You want to be some sort of mercenary?" Laguna's anger soon melted into disappointment. "You want to take advantage of people's dire situations to make money?"  
  
"Whatever." Squall was growing weary of his father not understanding. But then again, he couldn't blame him. They never talked to each other. "Besides, I wouldn't be the only one. There are Gardens that train kids about how to be SeeDs. Which are, in all actuality, mercenaries."  
  
"Squall, I didn't raise you to..."  
  
"You didn't raise me at all. You left that for mom and the hired help."  
  
"It's not like that at all and you know it." Laguna paused to gather his thoughts. Who ever thought that when he and his son finally spoke it would end up in an argument? "Back to the mercenary deal, I raised you to be a pacifist. I never taught you to love fighting."  
  
"Whatever. I'm leaving."  
  
Squall turned away from his father and started to leave the room.  
  
"Don't do that!" Laguna yelled to his son's back. "Don't shut people out! You will not shut me out!"  
  
"..." Squall only paused a moment, then continued out of the room. "Squall!" Laguna could be heard yelling after the young man, but the young man walked down the street only saying one thing under his breath. "Goodbye mom. Good riddance, Laguna," and without a second thought, left through the gates of Deling.  
  
Squall snapped back to reality. "The moron." He hissed under his breath. "I can't believe that I'm related to him." Squall kept telling himself not to worry about it, but it was too hard to forget whenever he saw his reflection. However, his musings were interrupted by something moving out of the corner of his eye.  
  
A Wendigo was headed in his direction.  
  
"Rinoa..." A soft voice called out to a sleeping, dark-haired girl. The young woman tried to ignore the voice and tried to turn away from in, but stopped when a searing pain shot through her side.  
  
"Rinoa? Can you hear me?"  
  
The young woman groaned in response.  
  
"Rinoa, it's me, Dr. Kadowaki. Can you understand me?"  
  
"Yes." Rinoa's voice rasped out. She wanted to sleep some more, but she forced her eyes to obey her. As she slow opened them, the room started to come into full focus. "Where am I?"  
  
"The infirmary. How many fingers am I holding up?" Dr. Kadowaki held up two fingers.  
  
"Two...what happened? Why am I here? I thought I was in the..."  
  
"Training center? You were." The doctor gave Rinoa a stern look. "You should learn to be more careful and not fight T-Rexuars on your own. You're lucky Seifer found you when he did."  
  
Rinoa didn't know how to respond to that. "Seifer? Seifer Almasy saved me?" It took a while for the information to totally sink in. "Great. Now I owe him my life. It's not enough that he breaks up with me in front of the entire student body, but he has to go and save me too."  
  
"May I ask why you were in the training center by yourself?"  
  
Rinoa didn't want to explain what she did. She felt stupid that the reason she was there in the first place was because of her hero. Plus she didn't want to drag anybody into her problems. "I...uh...couldn't find my training partner. But I okay now, really. I should actually be heading to class now. I'm sure Instructor Trepe is..."  
  
"Here." A tall, blonde woman said from the doorway. "I'll be escorting her to class now. Thank you Dr. Kadowaki."  
  
The doctor nodded then went to her desk and started filling out some papers, while Quistis left the infirmary with Rinoa.  
  
"I'm so sorry Instructor. I just got a little carried away. I..."  
  
"It's okay, Rinoa." The woman smiled. "You don't need to explain yourself. Just be careful from now on."  
  
Rinoa nodded as the two made their way to the classroom.  
  
"That wasn't so hard." Squall mumbled to himself as he looked at the deceased Wendigo at his feet. "Too bad it wasn't carrying what I needed. I guess I'll be on my way then."  
  
Squall walked into Deling's train station and walked up to the ticket vendor. He was just about to buy his ticket when he heard a familiar voice from behind.  
  
"Hey Squall!" A grinning man walked up to him.  
  
"Great. It's one of Laguna's friends, Watts. What does he want?" Squall spoke in a monotone voice, being careful not to give off his anger. "What do you want?"  
  
"Just wanting to talk to you. How is that father of yours?"  
  
"Don't know. Don't care."  
  
"I see...what brings you to the train station?" Watts slapped Squall on the back  
  
"None of your business." Squall growled. He glared at the annoying man that was being buddy-buddy to him.  
  
Watts let out a nervous laugh and began rubbing his stomach as if it was hurting him.  
  
Squall glared at him for a little while, and then turned to by his ticket mumbling, "Whatever." But the moment the word "Timber" left his lips, Watts perked up.  
  
"Hey! I can take you to Timber. You don't need to buy a ticket." Watts gestured to an older looking train. "We, my group and I, can give you a ride for just a small favor."  
  
Squall was about to ignore the man again, but when he heard the man ask for a favor, Squall began to listen. "Favor?"  
  
"I hear that you are good with a gunblade..."  
  
"So."  
  
"So, my group and I could use your help. I'll tell you more on the train. That is if you want a ride." Watts turned towards the train and started walking.  
  
"Whatever." The young man decided to follow.  
  
To be continued (?)  
  
CousinKitchen: Be honest. Should I continue? 


	3. A Fated Meeting

Disclaimer: Same as last time.  
  
Chapter Two  
  
A Fated Meeting  
  
The countryside scenery zoomed past as Squall looked out the small window of the train. He gave a soft sigh of relief just knowing that he was miles away from Deling, from Laguna. However, he was soon pulled from his reverie when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "What now." He shot off at Watts without turning to face him.  
  
"Zone wants to talk to you about the `favor' now.  
  
"I'll be there in a minute." Squall slowly pried his eyes off to the scenery to follow Watts. "Great. From one prison to another."  
  
"That was easier than I thought. I didn't think my Shiva was strong enough, but she and Quezacotl were enough to take down Ifrit." Rinoa said jovially. She and Quistis had just gone through the Fire Cavern and Rinoa just acquired Ifrit. They were now standing in front of the Garden map.  
  
Quistis smiled at her exited student. "See, nothing to it. Now all you need to do is the exam. Are you ready?"  
  
"Yep!" Rinoa smiled back. "I can't believe that I'll be a SeeD soon..."  
  
Someone colliding with her from behind suddenly interrupted Rinoa. She heard the person fall to the ground with an, "Umph!"  
  
Rinoa turned around to find a girl about her age on the ground rubbing her back end. The girl had short dark brown hair and bright sparkling eyes, despite her new pain.  
  
"I'm so sorry, I was just in a hurry to get to the library. I'm just a little lost. It's my first day here in Balamb Garden. I got transferred from Trabia Garden. The name's Selphie. Selphie Tilmitt.  
  
Rinoa helped the girl up as Quistis walked over to greet her. "Hello, the person you just ran into is Rinoa and I'm Instructor Trepe. I believe you were supposed to be in my class today."  
  
"EEK! I'm so sorry! I got lost this morning! This place is just too big!" Selphie was starting to panic.  
  
Quistis and Rinoa only laughed at the girl and her little predicament. "It's okay. I'll let it slide. You just better make it up in the SeeD exam tomorrow."  
  
Selphie gave a nervous laugh. "Heh. Well just let me take a quick look at the map here and I'll be on my way."  
  
The two women parted a way for Selphie and she took one quick glance at the map and she sped off for the library while turning around real quickly to yell, "And don't forget to support the Garden Festival, I'm on the committee, so I'm expecting to see you there!"  
  
Quistis shook her head. "That is one strange girl."  
  
Rinoa laughed. "Not as strange as Zell. Well, I better get to the training center and get my guardian forces stronger."  
  
"Shouldn't you rest? After all you do have the exam tomorrow."  
  
"I'm okay." Rinoa smiled to show that she was fine. "I won't be in there long. I'll probably just be in there for thirty minutes tops. And if I meet up with a T-Rexuar, I'll retreat and leave the center."  
  
"Do you want me to come just in case?" Quistis' brow knitted in concern for her student. "After all, you just got out of the infirmary this morning."  
  
"I'll be fine. Don't worry." With that said, Rinoa sprinted off to the training center.  
  
"Let me get this straight. You want me to help you to hijack a train and assassinate the Deling President?" Squall was in a makeshift meeting room with a man named Zone, who was the leader of a rebel faction, The Forest Owls.  
  
"Well, yes. But there is more to it. If you just do what we ask, it'll be a cinch." Zone was looking worried that Squall would object and want off the train. But the truth be told, they needed his help.  
  
"..." Squall gestured for him to continue.  
  
Zone sighed in relief and continued. "I have made a call to an old friend of mine and he is willing to help. That is if I send someone to plead our case and give him the money to back it."  
  
Squall stared at the man in amazement. For being a friend of Laguna's, he was very different. Most of Laguna's friends were just like him, disorganized, blundering, but he wasn't. He was actually organized. "Who?"  
  
"His name is Cid Kramer. He is the headmaster of the Balamb Garden."  
  
"You want me to hire mercenaries for you?"  
  
Zone nodded.  
  
"You don't trust me?" Squall was offended.  
  
"It's not that, it's just that this is more than a one person job. You're going to need help."  
  
"I'm not your errand boy."  
  
"You committed yourself to this as soon as you got on this train." Zone was clenching his stomach.  
  
Squall slapped his forehead for his own stupidity, and mumbled to himself, "I should have just bought a ticket."  
  
"So you'll do it?" Zone said hopefully releasing his stomach.  
  
"Fine. Whatever."  
  
"Great!" Zone clapped his hand on Squall's shoulder, but quickly removed it the moment Squall gave him a death glare. "We'll just make a quick stop in Timber. You can gather supplies there and maybe a tuxedo."  
  
"Wait! A tuxedo? Why do I...?"  
  
"For the SeeD Ball of course. Here is my invitation so you can get in. Just show this to Cid and he'll speak with you about the contract."  
  
"I never agreed to..."  
  
Squall was cut off yet again. "You did when you got on this train. Now get some rest. You want to look your best for the ball tomorrow. And we have a long night ahead of us."  
  
"Whatever." Squall turned around and left the room. "I can't believe this guy, the SeeD Ball? I hate social gatherings."  
  
Rinoa had just finished summoning Ifrit to take care of two Grats that were giving her some problems. It had been thirty minutes and she was about to leave the training center area, when unwelcome company walked up behind her and put their hands over her eyes saying, "Guess who, Princess."  
  
"Hello, Seifer." She said blandly. "And what other pain have you come to bestow on me?"  
  
Seifer pulled his hands away and gave Rinoa a pouting look. "Ouch. That's some gratitude you got there. After all, I did save your life this morning."  
  
Rinoa folded her arms in front of her. "I don't owe you anything, especially gratitude. You were the reason that I was in there in the first place."  
  
"Just because I had broken up with you..." Seifer tried to defend himself.  
  
"You invited me to the `secret area'. I came, you broke up with me, and I left. I just happened to go through the T-Rexuar area and wasn't thinking clearly."  
  
"If you put it that way, yes it was my fault. But it was also your fault for not thinking clearly. And lucky for you I was there."  
  
Rinoa walked passed the conceded `boy' to the exit of the center. "Yeah, just my luck. Just leave me alone Seifer. I'm tired and we have the SeeD exam tomorrow. Bye."  
  
Seifer put his hands in his pockets and gave Rinoa's back a lop-sided smile. "What? No good-night kisses?"  
  
Rinoa turned on her heel and glared at the over confident `boy'. "You want a good-night kiss? I'll give you a good-night kiss." She walked up to him and planted her lips on his roughly and quickly pulled away. Following the kiss was a punch square in the face. "Not lady like, I know. But you more than anyone disserved it. The kiss was my thank you. And the punch was my goodnight kiss. Have an unpleasant night, Seifer."  
  
Rinoa strode out of the center, leaving a Seifer clutching a bleeding, broken nose. "I can't believe I did that. That was totally not like me. It was like something possessed me. But he did disserve it. But I can't help but like that jerk for some reason."  
  
"Rinoa!" The young woman could hear Quistis calling from the dorm passage way. "Rinoa, I tried to find you so I could give you tomorrows team assignments. You said that you would be in your dorm. Where have you been?"  
  
Rinoa couldn't help but feel bad for what she did after thinking about it again. "I hope he is okay." She snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed Quistis staring at her with a curious look. "I had a little run in with Seifer."  
  
"Oh?" Quistis wasn't sure of what to make out of the sarcasm in Rinoa's voice. "Well, anyway, here is the assignment. We are to go to Dollet, the rest you'll learn on the transport, but your team consists of Zell Dincht, and Seifer Almasy. Seifer will be your team leader."  
  
"You're kidding, right?" Rinoa was shocked. "Not Seifer!"  
  
"No, I'm afraid not. But you better go to bed. You're going to have a long day tomorrow."  
  
"Thanks Instructor Trepe. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow then!" Rinoa ran past Quistis and gave her a quick wave goodnight and disappeared into the dorms.  
  
"Hey! Wake up!" Watts nudged Squall, who had been asleep since the quick stop in Timber.  
  
"What." Squall mumbled as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.  
  
"We're in Balamb now. We can't stay here for very long, so we checked you into the hotel. We will be back for you tomorrow morning at 7 AM. Do you think you can survive here on your own till then?"  
  
"I've always been alone." Squall nodded.  
  
"We'll help you with your things and then we're off." Watts grabbed the tuxedo from the hook behind the door. "I don't care what you say, I think tuxedos are great. You'll probably get girls fawning all over you. Like your dad."  
  
"Laguna couldn't even attract a fly, much less a girl. I'm surprised my mom even married that man."  
  
"Oh, right, sorry about that."  
  
"Whatever." Squall walked out of the room.  
  
"Why do you despise your father so much, Squall?" Watts looked at the tuxedo in his hands and then followed the angry youth.  
  
A bunch of teenagers waited in the hallway in front of the classroom to find out who made SeeD. Rinoa leaned up against the wall as she spoke with Selphie, who was too excited to stay in one place that she was pacing. Seifer, who had bandages on his nose, was at the other end of the hallway. The exam didn't go too well for him since he disobeyed direct orders, as usual. And Zell was fighting an invisible opponent. After what seemed like an eternity, one of the garden staff came into the hallway and announced who had made SeeD. "Selphie Tilmitt, Zell Dincht, and Rinoa Leonhart, please follow me. The rest of you, better luck next year."  
  
Rinoa could hear all sorts of sighs and grunts come from the hallway, but none were more pleasing to hear than Seifer punching the wall.  
  
After a short congratulations ceremony, the students that made SeeD were released to give their speeches in front of the class on how they felt about being a SeeD and how they achieved it. Then they were able to prepare for the SeeD Ball. They were all expected to wear their uniforms, so there wasn't much of a challenge on deciding what to wear.  
  
Selphie greeted Rinoa before she made it to her dorm room. "Oh, Rinoa! Your stuff has been moved into your new dorm room! Perks of being a SeeD. Now you have a room right next to mine! Come on, I'll do your hair for you."  
  
Before Rinoa had any time to react, Selphie was pulling her on the arm towards the dorms.  
  
"I can't believe I have to wear this thing." Squall was adjusting the tie to his tuxedo as he prepared for the ball. "But I'll do whatever it takes to get this thing over with." With that he headed to the car rental, rented a car, and was off to the Garden.  
  
"Hey, Rinoa! Looking good!" Zell ran over to Rinoa, who wasn't sure on how to act. She was standing against the wall, to self-conscious to do anything.  
  
"Thanks, Zell. Are you having a nice night?" Rinoa smiled shyly while Zell nodded enthusiastically.  
  
"Can you believe it? We're actually SeeDs. I'm not sure how to act since I've put on this uniform. Uh-oh. Here comes Selphie. I better go before she tries to recruit me for the Garden Festival committee."  
  
Zell just barely made it away when Selphie came running up yelling for him to wait. "Oh well. I'll get him later. So Rinoa, enjoying your first night as a SeeD? I know I am. Say, do you want to join the Festival committee?"  
  
Rinoa nodded. "All right! Since you're the first person to say yes, you can be the vice-president. Oh thank you Rinoa!" Selphie gave her a big hug and then ran off yelling for Zell.  
  
Rinoa was laughing until Seifer walked up to her. "So princess, you happy? You gave me a broken heart, nose, and ego."  
  
"It was you who dumped me. You deserve that broken nose. And the ego one was all your own doing. You should have followed orders. And thanks to you, a giant robot chased me. Luckily, Quistis was there at the machine gun or else I'd be dead right now." Rinoa was glaring at Seifer by this point. She was furious at him. She was so mad that she wanted to punch him again. But she somehow managed to restrain herself.  
  
"Well, when you put it that way. I guess I'll be seeing you around, princess."  
  
As Seifer started to walk away, Rinoa yelled after him. "And stop calling me princess."  
  
"What ever you say, princess Rinoa."  
  
Rinoa sighed her aggravation. "How can anyone be so arrogant?" It was when she stopped to gaze at the dancers that she saw him. Actually he was on the other side of the room, leaning on a wall, much like she was. But she saw him through the dancers nonetheless. "Who is that? I've never seen him before. He's wearing a tuxedo, must be a civilian. And he's all alone. What better person to test my dancing ability on than a complete stranger." And with that thought in mind, she started to make her way towards him.  
  
"I hate social events." Squall thought sourly to himself. "I can't believe I'm actually here. I could probably do that whole job on my own."  
  
The young man scanned the crowd to try and find the headmaster, when he realized that he had no clue of what the man looked like. "Damn it. I should have asked for a picture or something." Squall didn't have much more time to think about it, because a dark haired girl took his attention, and she was walking his way. He tried to act like he didn't see her, but it was too late.  
  
"Hi." She said politely. "You don't go here, do you?" The young man shook his head and turned away. She smiled and continued. "My name is Rinoa Leonhart, who might you be?"  
  
The young man regarded her for a little while, "Squall." He mumbled his name quickly and turned his head away again.  
  
Rinoa laughed at his actions, but went on just the same. "Would you like to dance?"  
  
To be continued...  
  
Author's note: Well? Is it okay? I hope you enjoyed the punch. Not like Rinoa at all, but I thought it was funny. Please R&R! 


	4. A Battle Between Rivals

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII. Squaresoft does.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Author's note: Sorry, I just had to repost this chapter. Nothing really has changed. I just realized that instead of using Hyne, I had used God. Other than that nothing has changed. Sorry about that!  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Three  
  
A Battle Between Rivals  
  
Squall pretended that he did not hear her and hoped that she would give up and go away. She didn't. She kept on staring at him hoping for some kind of an answer.  
  
"Well?" She gave him a wide-eyed, innocent look, just waiting for him to forfeit the battle and dance with her. "Let me guess, you only dance with people you like."  
  
Squall couldn't believe it she wasn't leaving. He turned his head and stared at her, trying to figure of a way to get away from her.  
  
"You're going to like me. You're going to like me…" Rinoa made a little motion with her hand as if she was trying to hypnotize him.  
  
Squall lifted one eyebrow with a confused look on his face. "What are you doing?"  
  
She smiled at him weakly. "Trying to hypnotize you…is it working?"  
  
Squall shook his head. "Should I just put her out of her misery and dance with her? Maybe she'll leave me alone if I do."  
  
"Well, did it?" A look of hope sparked in her brown eyes.  
  
"Fine." Squall said in a less than amused voice.  
  
Rinoa was very excited that he finally agreed.  
  
"But," The look of happiness began to fade from the girls face. "I can't dance."  
  
Relief spread across Rinoa's face. "That's okay. I'll teach you." She took his hand and dragged him out onto the dance floor.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
As a new waltz began, Rinoa placed Squall directly in front of her and situated him into the correct positioning. To Rinoa's amazement, Squall almost did that all on his own. She couldn't help but think that he was lying in order to get out of dancing.  
  
"Now, just follow my lead. Now with a one and a two and a three and a four…" They began to dance in a small pattern, but unfortunately for Rinoa, Squall stepped on her foot."  
  
"Ah!" The pain, however, quickly subsided. That was enough for a distraction for Squall to try to escape. Rinoa didn't think much of it and pulled him back into position. "Again." She smiled.  
  
Once more, they attempted to waltz. They were doing fine this time around, except Squall some how took over and lead Rinoa and himself into another couple.  
  
"Squall!" Once more, he tried to make a quick exit. But once again he was stopped. She had grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back into position. "Please stay, just this one dance okay?"  
  
The young man nodded and took the lead once more, leading a perfect waltz. After the song ended, Rinoa couldn't help but congratulating herself for picking such an able dancer. "Where did you learn how to dance?"  
  
"From you." He tried once more to get away from the prodding young woman.  
  
"Liar. You already knew how to dance. Now where did you…?"  
  
"That's none of your business." Squall glared at her with cold eyes.  
  
"Okay. You don't have to be so rude." She was slightly offended. "Now, what brings you here to the SeeD ball? A family member? A girlfriend?"  
  
Squall shook his head.  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"It's none of your…"  
  
"Business? I know. But just tell me." Rinoa was getting tired of him repeating himself.  
  
"Cid Kramer."  
  
"What did you say?" Rinoa was surprised that he just said the headmaster's name.  
  
"I'm looking for Cid Kramer." Squall didn't like her asking questions and decided that it was just better to tell her. Besides she could probably point him out for him.  
  
"He's just over there. See the man with the red sweater? That's him." Rinoa pointed across the room to a man in his early forties.  
  
Squall nodded and started to walk in that direction with Rinoa running after him pleading for him to wait, when he accidentally ran into someone.  
  
"Watch where you're going." A rude voice yelled at the stunned young man. "Oh, hey Princess. You enjoying yourself?"  
  
Rinoa glared at the blonde haired man. "Yes, thank you very much. I was just on my way to show this civilian where Cid was."  
  
"Shouldn't you be in front of him to do that?" Seifer teased. "Who is this civilian anyway…hey! I know you. You're from Deling! You're Squall!"  
  
"Seifer…" Seifer's name came out in a low growl. Squall balled his fists in anger.  
  
Rinoa was a bit surprised with the recent turn of events. "How can Seifer know this guy? He's civilian."  
  
"How is that you two…?"  
  
"Simple Princess." Seifer kept his eyes on Squall, making sure he didn't try anything. "You remember when Cid allowed to get that gunblade training I was always asking for? That's why I went to Deling last summer. I was going to get lessons from a real pro. When I arrived, this guy already had one student. Him. The whole time the teacher praised him on how good he was." Seifer then turned the conversation to the fuming young man. "You know, we never did settle on who was better…"  
  
Squall knew what he was suggesting, and he was eager to do it.  
  
"I know what you're thinking." Rinoa protested. "And I won't let you do it Seifer. He is a civilian, you can't."  
  
"There are ways of getting around rules." Seifer looked at Squall's face and knew that he would accept. That was his weakness. He didn't like being called weak. "How about after your little meeting, we have a little sparing session in the training center?"  
  
Squall nodded his acceptance.  
  
"What?" Rinoa was shocked that Seifer would do such a thing. "Seifer! You know that you can get in trouble for this. You also know that if you get caught, he will be arrested. You can't do this!"  
  
"Butt out, Princess. Oh, I can run into Balamb while you are having your meeting and get your stuff. You are staying at the hotel right?"  
  
Rinoa knew something didn't smell right about this whole thing. She knew she couldn't do anything, but she had to try to stop them. Some how. "Squall, don't do this. What if you get caught?"  
  
"It's none of your concern. We just met you don't know me. Why do you even care?" Squall stared at her with cold, stormy, gray eyes.  
  
"It's just the kind of person I am." Rinoa looked right back into his eyes. She wished that this guy would accept her advice.  
  
For a moment Squall let his barriers down. He was about to go along with Rinoa, but the echoes of Seifer's taunting went through his mind. "I have to do it. Stay out of this." With that said Seifer smiled and Squall walked away towards Cid. This left Rinoa alone amongst the dancing couples.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"What in the world are you trying to say?" Squall was with Cid in his office looking over a contract for the Forest Owls.  
  
"Is it really that hard to understand?" Cid took the contract from Squall's hands. "I guess it is a little confusing. I'll try to simplify it for you. Oh by the way, who much gil is he paying us?"  
  
Squall reached inside his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Here is the receipt. He followed your instructions to the letter and paid all that he could scrounge. And combined with the gil I was able to supply that makes 300,000 gil. Is that enough?"  
  
Cid inspected the receipt and went to his computer, pressed a few buttons, and nodded. It's all there. Probably a little more than needful, but enough. With the terms of the contract, this should be plenty." Cid handed the new contract to Squall.  
  
Squall looked at it, nodded his approval, and signed. "It's been great doing business." As he made his way to the door, Cid called out to him. "Is your name, Squall Loire, by any chance?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I'm a good friend of your fathers. He's a good man…"  
  
"He is not my father!" Squall asserted.  
  
"Oh." Cid was stunned by the young man's reaction. "I just thought there was a bit of resemblance. Sorry.  
  
Squall calmed down a little. "Sorry. I have to go." And quickly disappeared in the elevator.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Rinoa waited just outside the elevator, in front of the directory. "I can't believe this guy is actually going to face Seifer. Seifer is the best with a gunblade, he's undefeatable…Why am I so worried about this guy anyways?"  
  
She was startled out of her thoughts by the elevator doors opening, revealing the silent young man. Needless to say, he also had a shocked look on his face. "You can't stop me." He warned her in case she tried anything.  
  
"I'm not here to stop you." Squall was surprised. "You need someone there with a cure on hand in case one of you gets hurt."  
  
The two proceeded to the training center together in silence. When they arrived Seifer was standing by the sign with a black bag. "Aw, you've discovered girls since I've last seen you. You've finally hit puberty. I'm so proud."  
  
"Shut up. She's just following me. She won't leave me alone."  
  
Seifer turned his mocking stare to Rinoa. "So, you found another guy to leech onto. How like you Princess."  
  
Squall for some reason didn't like to here him insult the girl, no matter how annoyed the girl made him. "Just shut up and give me my stuff. By the way where is…?"  
  
Squall didn't need to finish his sentence. Seifer pulled out a sleek gunblade from behind his back, and looked at the symbol on the chain. "This is a nice weapon you have here. You called this Griever, didn't you? The same symbol as that stupid ring you…"  
  
"Just give me that and let me go change." Squall grabbed the weapon from Seifer's hold.  
  
"Sure the dorms are that way. I'm sure Rinoa would be more than happy to…"  
  
"Seifer." Squall growled. He then followed the direction in which Seifer pointed and found the dorms on his own.  
  
Rinoa was still standing next to Seifer. She couldn't believe that this complete stranger was protecting her honor. "He was actually getting mad at Seifer for insulting me. He is definitely one brave guy. Not to mention cute…"  
  
"Princess?" Seifer couldn't stand the silence much longer. "Why are you a SeeD?"  
  
"Where did that come from?"  
  
"Well, all the time that we dated, you told me all the time that you hated fighting, and yet you grew up around it and tried your best to be in SeeD. It has been bugging me. Why in the world did you try so hard to be in such a thing?"  
  
It was surprising to Rinoa that Seifer still kept his sensitive side in check. "It's the only thing that I have know."  
  
"SEIFER!" a loud voice boomed from down the hall. A silver haired girl came running with a muscle bound man right behind her. "SEIFER! EXPLAIN!"  
  
Seifer slapped his hand on his head. "I'm sorry, Fujin. I forgot to meet you and Rajin in the cafeteria. I'm kind of busy right now. I'll catch you guy later. Go to bed or something."  
  
"LATER!" Fujin saluted the blonde.  
  
"Be careful, ya know." Rajin saluted as well.  
  
The two turned and disappeared down the hallway. The brushed past a tall young man in a white shirt and leather jacket lined with fur and black pants with a gunblade strapped to his side.  
  
"Squall?" Rinoa could hardly believe it. The guy was gorgeous. Not that he didn't look great in the tuxedo too, but he looked even better in casual wear.  
  
"Lets go." Squall murmured as he passed by Rinoa. Seifer led the way.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
The three stopped in the area between two large metal doors. "Since this is the only place in here with no monsters, minus the 'secret area', this is the best place to have our sparring." Seifer smirked to himself. "Finally, now we can settle this once and for all."  
  
"Be careful." She whispered to Squall. In response he nodded and took a battle stance.  
  
"You're kidding me!" Seifer laughed. "Your stance is pitiful, always on the defense. You got to learn…" Seifer lunged a Squall, their gunblades clashing. "That it is better to always be on the attack rather than defense."  
  
The two young men fought for hours. Their strength seemed to be equal. All Rinoa could do was look on helplessly as the two clashed blades. After about four hours, they both looked to be wearing down. It was then that Squall made a wrong move, he took Seifer's advice. However, Seifer made an underhanded move.  
  
"Fire!" Seifer shouted, as Squall was about to break down his defense.  
  
Squall's eyes widened in pain. He was prepared for the flames as they jumped out and singed his skin. He was on the ground with in seconds of the impact. He started to get up with the aid of his gunblade when Seifer made a devastating slice across Squall's forehead. Blood sprayed everywhere the moment the slash was made. It slowly dripped down his forehead. "Damn you Seifer." He growled under his breath. Now he was angry.  
  
Seifer was too busy laughing over his handy work to notice that Squall continued to get up and was running in his direction. He turned around only to see Squall making an upwards slash to create the same injury that he had inflicted upon the him.  
  
Rinoa was horrified. She didn't know what to do when the two of them fell to the ground. She really couldn't go to Dr. Kadowaki. Instead she stared doing cures like crazy, while bandaging both the wounds. Pretty soon Rinoa was covered in scarlet blood, hoping that the two of them would be okay. "Please, Hyne! Someone help me!"  
  
  
  
To be continued…  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
CouainKitchen: Hey, another chapter done! OH YEAH! I can't believe it. I hope this measures up still. I wrote this while I was very tired. I hope I wasn't repetitive. I really hoped you liked it! Till next chapter! 


	5. Harsh Meetings

Disclaimer: Same as before.  
  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Harsh Meetings  
  
Rinoa sat on the ground between Squall and Seifer trying her best to get them conscious again. "I can't believe you two." She lectured. "I warned you, and now I can't help you."  
  
"What on earth happened here?" A surprised voice exclaimed from behind the helpless girl.  
  
Rinoa turned her head to face the speaker. It was Quistis. "Instructor? What are you doing here? It's way past curfew"  
  
Quistis' brow knitted in worry. "I was just in the secret area sorting my thoughts, despite all the couples making out. But what are you doing here? Who is that? And more importantly, what happened?"  
  
Rinoa half-heartedly laughed at the short joke. "Well, I was actually here to make sure that these two didn't kill themselves. It would seem that I failed. This guy here is Squall. He's a civil..." Rinoa wasn't sure what to tell her. Quistis might turn her in along with the injured young men.  
  
"A civilian? Here in the training center?" Quistis took a closer look at the unconscious brunette. "He's rather cute, why is he here?"  
  
Rinoa sighed in defeat. She had already said too much. Why not finish it? "Yes, he is a civilian. Apparently Seifer had some sort of grudge against him and challenged him. And from what I can tell about this guy is that he never backs down. The fight got really intense. There wasn't supposed to be magic involved…"  
  
"Seifer used magic…"  
  
Rinoa nodded.  
  
Quistis shook her head in disappointment for her student. "He'll never learn. Anyway, continue."  
  
"Seifer used fire and got Squall on the ground. As Squall stood up, Seifer brought his gunblade down on him and gashed open his forehead." Rinoa tried to shake the memory from her mind, but it was hard. "The pain he must have felt." She thought silently to herself. "While Seifer enjoyed his short lived victory, Squall used his last strength and slashed upwards at Seifer creating the same injury. Now they're both unconscious and I don't know what to do."  
  
"How about Dr. Kadowaki?" Qusitis suggested hesitantly.  
  
Rinoa shook her head. "I don't want this guy to get in trouble all on account of Seifer."  
  
"All right. I think I might have ten curagas…"  
  
"Where did you…? I didn't think there were any in Balamb."  
  
"Long story, I don't want to get into it." Quistis moved Rinoa aside. "Just give me a bit of room and maybe I'll be able to help.  
  
Quistis mumbled softly and waved her hands over the unconscious Squall. After a minute or so the young man woke up. The same was repeated for Seifer.  
  
Both the young men were awake and rubbing there foreheads. Both asking what happened.  
  
Rinoa gave the both of them a stern glare. "Thank Hyne the both of you are okay. I can't believe you two did that. You could have died. You're lucky Quistis came when she did."  
  
Seifer cast his eyes down. "Let me guess, detention?"  
  
Quistis nodded with a blunt "yes."  
  
"I'm going to jail?" Squall looked at the Instructor with a expressionless face.  
  
"No. Lucky for you I'm not that cruel. You just get a first time warning. I just don't want to see your face around here again trying this same stunt."  
  
Squall nodded his agreement and slowly stood up touching his gloved fingers to his forehead. Quistis noticed.  
  
"You can take that off now. The bleeding should have stopped."  
  
Squall slowly unwrapped the bloody, makeshift bandage. He once again fingered his forehead. He finally took off his glove to get a better feel. There was a scar, no doubt about that. "Great, just wonderful. All I need is a memento from Seifer."  
  
Seifer pretty much mirrored Squall's actions. The both of them exchanged glares as they both rubbed their new scars.  
  
"I think it's time for you to leave." Quistis began to push Squall towards to exit of the training center. He didn't put up a fight.  
  
"I was just leaving anyways." He looked around Quistis to glare at Seifer once more and said a quick "bye" to Rinoa. It wasn't too long till he disappeared out the door.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
It was just Seifer and Rinoa alone. Seifer tried to leave the awkward situation but a hand held him back. "It's all over Rinoa. No need to stay…"  
  
Rinoa, who had been looking at the ground, brought her eyes up to meet his. "I know." She was unsure of how to continue. "It's been a while since you just called me by my name instead of Princess…"  
  
"Yeah…" Seifer blushed lightly.  
  
"I'm sorry about that punch earlier. But you really did deserve it…" Rinoa said bashfully. "I was really worried about you. He could have killed you…"  
  
Seifer knew that she was still a bit vulnerable from the breakup. She probably didn't even know what she was talking about since something almost tragic happened. "Rinoa, I…we broke up remember? I don't like you like that…" I hurt to say, but it was the truth. There was someone else that he favored and he wanted to make sure that he would have a chance with her. He had to let her go, no matter what.  
  
"I gotta go Princess. Have a nice life. You are a SeeD after all. Don't forget that you start work tomorrow. You better get your beauty sleep. I can see you desperately need some."  
  
Rinoa's expression went from one of caring to pure anger. "You know, I try to be nice, but you just have to ruin it. Don't expect any sort of help from me after tonight, you ungrateful prick. I hate you." She hissed the last words with vehemence. She wanted to make sure that Seifer understood.  
  
"I love you too, Princess. See ya around!" Seifer was about to leave when he and Rinoa heard a scream come from behind them.  
  
A woman in a blue shirt and skirt with a green shawl came from out of the metal doors leading to the monster area. She was being chased by and overgrown insect. "Rinny!" She screamed. "Seifer! Help me!"  
  
"She knows my nick name, but how?" Rinoa ran up to fight the insect and to her surprise Seifer joined her. "Lets get rid of this thing!" He shouted over Rinoa and she nodded in return.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Quistis was escorting Squall to the front entrance to Balamb. She couldn't help but stare at him. "He is really cute. The way he walks, the way he…acts. I haven't really heard him say anything, but I'm sure he'd be good to talk to. Those eyes too. They are so mysterious. A grayish-blue. I may have just met him, but I… I think I'm in love…"  
  
Quistis was so in thought that she hardly noticed that they had arrived at the front entrance of the Garden. She saw Squall wave a quick good-bye and stride towards the gateway. "Wait!" She called after him.  
  
The silent, young man turned around in annoyance. All he wanted to do now was getting back to the hotel and at least get some sleep, it was already 1:30 AM and he had to be up by six to catch Zone and Watts at seven. "What?"  
  
"It was…" She was nervous and afraid of sounding stupid. "I'm eighteen years old. I'm an adult. It shouldn't be hard for me to talk to a 'boy'." She scolded herself. "Nice to meet you." There she said it.  
  
Squall nodded that he felt the same and left as quick as he could, leaving a starry-eyed Quistis.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
The fight was almost over. It had been only a short while, but Rinoa managed to break out in a sweat. "I think it's almost dead. Why don't you finish it off Seifer!" She yelled over to the cocky young man.  
  
"As you command, Princess!" He yelled back and started off in a full run towards the insect. He jumped up in the air and with one quick, downwards slash, the insect was cleaved into two.  
  
"So much for that monster. I wish it had been more of a challenge." Seifer kicked the carcass.  
  
Rinoa turned around to the young woman who was panting in relief. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"  
  
"I'm okay. Thank you so much Rinny. I…" Two men cut her off. They were wearing white uniforms. They ran up to the young woman panting.  
  
"What are you doing here? I thought we asked you to stay in the room. We were worried about you!" The first man said, while the second one took her by the arm and started helping her out of the training center  
  
Seifer and Rinoa stared after the procession, gave each other a confused look and left the center themselves going their separate ways after reaching the dorms.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Rinoa arrived in her dorm room and fell on her bed. She was very exhausted. Too much had happened in one day. Her eyelids grew heavy and she was soon sound asleep.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Rinoa's dream…  
  
"Sis…where are you?" A little girl ran from the porch of a small building into the rain. "Why did you leave? You said you wouldn't!"  
  
The little gill stood watching an empty road, looking for something. "They said you wouldn't be coming back. I don't believe them you promised you would come back if you ever did leave."  
  
She watched the road a bit longer, letting the cold rain soak her. "Please come back, someday. I miss you, but I'll be strong for you. I love you Sis!" She yelled to the vacant road and turned around and bolted back into the building.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Rinoa opened her eyes to urgent knocking on her door. "Yo! Wake up!" It sounded like that Zell.  
  
"What?" She moaned back.  
  
"We got our first mission! Get dressed, grab your weapon, and meet at the front gate."  
  
"Okay!" She really didn't want to wake up. But she knew that missions took priority over sleep. "I'll be there in twenty minutes!"  
  
"Try to make that ten! We have to leave ASAP!" She could hear Zell's footsteps echo down the hallway. "That was a strange dream. Was that little girl…me?" Rinoa tried to shake the dream, but the images remained at the front of her mind. She decided that maybe the best way to forget was to take a warm shower.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Alright. You're all here." Rinoa, Selphie, and Zell stood at attention. Cid looked at each of the new SeeDs and smiled with pride. "This is your first mission and could be considered very simple. You will meet your employers at the train station in Timber. You'll be working for a small organization called the Forest Owls. A man will as you a question and you must answer, 'But the owls are still around' got all that?"  
  
The three SeeDs nodded and were dismissed. "Oh, Rinoa…" Cid stalled her for a minute. "I want to give you this. It might come in handy, just be careful if you ever rub it/ Make sure that everyone is okay before you do anything with it. It's considered a cursed object. It's a magic lamp."  
  
Rinoa smiled and took the small lamp. "Thanks, Headmaster. I'll be careful. Don't worry." She quickly hooked the lamp at her side and quickly caught up with the others.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Squall made it to the train on time. Squall was hoping that if he went past Zone fast enough that he would leave him alone for the trip back to Timber. Unfortunately, he was wrong.  
  
"So, did you have fun?" Zone nudged the young man.  
  
"…"  
  
"Not gonna answer are ya?" He looked a little disappointed.  
  
Squall turned to face the irritating man. "It's none of your business." It turned out to be the wrong thing to do.  
  
"Hey…what happened to your face? Where did you get the nasty scar? Did you ruin our plans? You know that we can't afford for our plans to go wrong."  
  
"Nothing happened. I just got a scratch. You don't need to carry on. Just leave me alone. I'm going to sleep." Squall quickly retreated from the questioning and headed to back room of the train, which happened to be the only room with a bed.  
  
"Okay…" Zone replied timidly while rubbing his stomach. "Sleep well."  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Hey, Rin! What did Cid give you?" The small group had only been on the road fifteen and Zell was already getting bored.  
  
"Just this old…Hey!" Rinoa had taken the lamp from her side to show Zell, but he snatched it out of her hands before she could say anything.  
  
"Zell, that wasn't very nice. You should give it back." Selphie tried to lecture the martial artist, but was not heard.  
  
"This looks a bit tarnished, probably a little polish and it will be as good as new."  
  
"No! Zell stop!" Rinoa tried to stop him from rubbing the lamp, but was too late. Complete darkness surrounded the SeeDs. "You're lucky that there are no monsters on the road or you would be in deep trouble, Zell!"  
  
A loud roar echoed around them and a giant demon flew down in front of them. "Who disturbs my rest?" It yelled at them.  
  
"Oh, you are very lucky we're in good health, Zell, Or else we'd be dead." Rinoa readied herself for a fight along with Selphie.  
  
"What's going on?" Zell still hadn't grasped the situation.  
  
"That was a cursed object that you just rubbed. Now you have unleashed and angry demon that we'll have to fight in order to get out of this dimension.  
  
Zell shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry?"  
  
Rinoa let out a sigh. "It doesn't matter now. Forget it. It probably would have happened sooner or later. But we could use your help in defeating him." Rinoa knew that she couldn't stay mad at him forever. He didn't know and it is best not to split up your team by petty fights.  
  
"Lets kick some demon ass!" Zell readied his fists alongside Rinoa and Selphie and the fight began.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
To be continued…  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
CousinKitchen: Well? Still going good? Please R&R! Another chapter finished! HOORAY! I'm sorry that I couldn't remember the giant insects name. I'm also sorry that I can't remember the question and the answer for the Forest Owls very well. It's been a while since I played that part. But other than those minor details I hoped you liked it. Till next chapter! 


	6. Sleeping Prince

CousinKitchen: All right, it has been a while. I hope you like this chapter. I forgot a few minor details such as monster names, but I hope that doesn't take away from your enjoyment of the story!  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Sleeping Prince  
  
Rinoa, Selphie, and Zell fought the large Demon, Diablos, with everything they had. "Zell!" Rinoa screamed over to the exhausted young man. "I gave you Ifrit, didn't I?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Well since Quezacotl and Shiva have done their fair share of attacking, why don't you try using him instead of your physical attacks? Your hits aren't taking too much out of him."  
  
Zell nodded again and summoned Ifrit. The beast gave a mighty roar and summoned searing flames trying to scorch the angry devil. Unfortunately for the small group, it didn't inflict too much damage. But it was enough to catch him off guard.  
  
"Now Selphie! Do your 'all cure'!"  
  
Selphie summoned some of her remaining strength to cure the party. The welcomed rejuvenation gave everyone more strength.  
  
"Now it's my turn. Shiva!" A blue woman showed up in a flurry of ice and hit Diablos with a furious blast.  
  
Diablos let out a roar of defeat. "You mortals are strong…very well I will join you."  
  
The darkness surrounding the party during the battle darkened till no light shone.  
  
"What in the world?" Rinoa sat up and looked at the surroundings from the ground. They were in the same place that they were in before the battle. "How did…what?" She blinked in confusion.  
  
"WOW!" Zell was sitting on the ground and was amazed to find that they were out on the road in the bright sunshine. "That was AWESOME!"  
  
Selphie was beside Zell. "You can say that again. That took SO LONG. I wonder how much time we have left to get to the train?" She glanced down at her watch. "Wow! That was definitely a different dimension!"  
  
"What?" Rinoa crawled over next to Selphie and looked at the watch.  
  
"It has only been one minute since we left. We still have plenty of time to get to the station."  
  
"We have thirty minutes and the town is only fifteen minutes away." Rinoa got up and brushed herself off while looking at the town in the distance.  
  
"Hey!" Zell tapped Rinoa's shoulder. "Do you think that before we get on the train that I can say good-bye to my ma?"  
  
Rinoa smiled and nodded and the group went off towards Balamb.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Wow, Zell!" Selphie ran out of Zell's house followed by a smiling Rinoa and a bashful Zell. "Your 'ma' is so nice! I especially loved those baby pictures!"  
  
"Well we better get to that train!" Zell's face was bright red with embarrassment.  
  
They all nodded to each other, double checked their supplies and hurried to the train station. They bought their tickets and went inside the private SeeD car.  
  
"Open the door! Open the door!" Selphie bounced outside the door leading into the luxury part of the car.  
  
"Okay, hold your horses. I'm getting the key card out as fast as I can." Rinoa laughed at the overly excited Selphie.  
  
As soon as the card was swiped the door opened and Selphie raced in. All the while she was singing, "Train, train take us away. Take us away, far away. On adventures we will go…"  
  
Following the jovial girl, Zell raced into the cart stopping in front of yet another door requiring a key card. "Aw, come on. OPEN! I want to see what we've been missing!" Zell danced around like a kid in a candy store.  
  
Rinoa smiled at the display of over exuberance and swiped the key card in the second lock allowing Zell to dash inside. "Ooooh. Cushy!" He was bouncing up and down on the couch.  
  
Rinoa walked in after the martial artist laughing and watched him. "I'm glad you like it."  
  
"Oh yeah." Zell snapped back to reality. "Thanks!"  
  
Rinoa giggled in return. "Your welcome."  
  
"Oh." Selphie walked into the compartment slowly and wobbly. "I don't feel good."  
  
"Are you okay Selphie? Do you have motion sickness?" Rinoa eyed the girl in concern as she shook her head.  
  
"If she has motion sickness, then I do too, because I'm not feeling too good." Zell began to hold his head as Selphie collapsed on the couch. It was then that Rinoa felt it too. I sharp pain in the back of her head causing everything to go dark. "What's happening? Is it gas?" Rinoa fell to the floor with a loud thud.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Oh my head." Rinoa stood up and looked around. "We're still on the train. I guess it wasn't gas. But that was a strange dream…"  
  
"MAN! I've got one hell of a headache!" Zell sat up and rubbed his temples, while Selphie stirred and held her head in her hands.  
  
"That hurts! But at least that dream was pleasant. I like Sir Laguna!" Selphie rubbed her eyes.  
  
"Did you just say, Laguna?" Zell looked at the girl with wide disbelieving eyes.  
  
"Yeah. You know him?"  
  
"No it's just that…I saw that guy in my dream too…" Zell turned to Rinoa. "What about you? Did you see a Laguna in your dream too?"  
  
Rinoa shook her head. "No…I was inside the head of some general…Caraway, I think. He was going through some reports of some kind. He got orders to station a Laguna at Deling though. He was ordered to lead a small group to infiltrate some Esthar base…"  
  
"Weird." Selphie and Zell said in unison.  
  
"Well…we better get ready. It feels like the train is slowing down. Rinoa turned away from her comrades and walked out the door. "How is it possible that our dreams were connected. Was that real?"  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
The three stepped off the train and started walking down the station stairs. It wasn't long until a man in a hat walked up to them and asked them a strange question. It took them by surprise at first, but than Rinoa remembered the code. "But the owls are still around." She replied.  
  
The man seemed to like that answer and gestured for them to follow and led them to an old looking train.  
  
As soon as they were all inside the train started moving and the man introduced himself. "Greetings SeeDs. My name is Watts," Then he gestured to a man I a blue shirt right behind him. "And this is Zone." Zone shook hands with Rinoa and Selphie, and ignored the outstretched hand of Zell.  
  
"It's a pleasure." She then remembered herself and they all saluted. "Balamb SeeD reporting for duty."  
  
The two men smiled at each other. "In just a few minutes, we'll brief you all on your mission, but first we have a small favor to ask you."  
  
The three exchanged confused looks. "And that would be?" Rinoa gestured for him to continue.  
  
"Well, we have a friend…uh…an acquaintance helping us. I guess he's sort of a mercenary like you guys, but with a short temper. He's not to happy with us and we were wondering if one of you could go wake him up…"  
  
Rinoa shook her head in disbelief. "If you guys had a mercenary, why do you need us?"  
  
"It's not a one person job…"  
  
"I see." Rinoa gave a small smile to help the tense men relax. "I'll do it. I not scared."  
  
The two men smiled in return. "Oh thank you!" Watts seemed to be more relieved than anyone. "He's in the last room on the left, down that hallway. Just be careful, okay?"  
  
Rinoa nodded and headed down the hallway.  
  
Zone called after her. "Just don't get the prince to upset."  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Great. They need something else. I wonder what it is this time." Squall turned on his side as he heard the door open. He didn't want to see Watts or Zone. They were just too irritating to deal with after waking up.  
  
"Um." A feminine voice called from behind him. "A girl?" "I was sent to come and wake you up, uh, sir…"  
  
Squall quickly got to his feet, startling the young woman.  
  
"Squall? Is it really you?" She ran up and hugged him. It was his turn to be surprised. He slightly blushed, but quickly covered it up by turning away.  
  
"Yeah. Why are you here?"  
  
"Well, you hired us it looks like." Rinoa tried to get him to turn around, but was distracted by a dog barking. "Who is that?" She crouched down and called the dog to come to her. It was a collie.  
  
"The damn thing followed me from Balamb." Squall eyed the dog, and how Rinoa seemed to like it. "You can have it if you want."  
  
"Really? Oh thank you!" She hugged Squall again. Squall once again pried himself from her. "She looks like such and angel…that's it! I'll call her Angelo!" She hugged the dog and told it to stay in the room till she came back. "Come on. We need to go get briefed on the mission."  
  
Squall shrugged and followed her out of the room.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"That's it?" for the first time in an hour during the briefing, Squall spoke. He had been listening to the whole plan of kidnapping Deling's President with little interest and thought that it didn't have much thought into it.  
  
Zone looked up from the train set that he was using as a visual aid. "You have a problem Squall?"  
  
The young man let a short "hn" and "whatever" and went back to leaning against the wall silently.  
  
Zell raised his hand. "Yo, if you have that guy over there, why do you need us. This mission doesn't seem all that tough…"  
  
Watts cleared his throat to get the attention of the room. "We needed back up. If there are any soldiers on the train, we'll need experienced fighters to take care of them. We also need someone to read off the codes to the person uncoupling the cars…"  
  
"Do you have the codes? Do you have a fall back plan if this whole thing fails?" Rinoa wanted more details.  
  
Zone held up a small, hand-held computer. "This little baby will get the codes for you, but you have to input them before 5 seconds are up for each one…and no, we don't have a back up plan. Hopefully we won't need one…"  
  
The three SeeD shook their heads. "Hey." Zell tapped Rinoa on the shoulder. "Can you ask these guys for our contract? I want to see why we have to go with such a make-shift plan…"  
  
"Excuse me…" Rinoa walked up to Watts a tapped him on the shoulder while the man was deep in an angry conversation with Zone. "Can we see the contract?"  
  
"Just a moment, we just need have a quick meeting…" Watts pulled Zone by the arm and walked up to Squall and signaled for the young man to crouch down on the floor with them.  
  
"You've got to be kidding…" The young man mumbled before he complied and followed suit.  
  
After a few minutes, they stood up again and Squall pulled out a sheet of paper and handed to Rinoa and went back to his wall.  
  
"Huh?" The three looked at the incomprehensible contract and looked at Squall with confused expressions.  
  
Squall rolled his eyes and pulled out another sheet of paper and handed it to the confused group.  
  
"So we have to really go through with this, huh?" Selphie pouted.  
  
"Looks like it." Rinoa now knew it was hopeless. They were now in the hands of inexperienced people that didn't know a thing about strategy. "Hyne, help us."  
  
"All right. So who is going to do what?" Zell cracked his knuckles in excitement.  
  
In response, Zone clutched his stomach in pain and ran to a corner. Watts on the other hand rattled off something like he had to operate the trains and left the room. Squall shook his head in disgust for the two cowards.  
  
Rinoa put a finger to her chin in thought. "Okay, Zell, Selphie…you guys monitor the guards in the train and tell us when they move to the doors. I'll give the codes to uncoupling the cars and Squall," Squall turned his attention to the dark haired girl. "You'll input the codes, okay?" Everyone nodded his or her agreement.  
  
Everyone was leaving the conference room, but Rinoa. She called out to Squall and he stopped in mid-step and turned to face her.  
  
"Squall, if there is any fighting…do you know about GFs?" The young man nodded. "Do you have one?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, before we went to got on the train in Balamb, we sort of ran into one. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind using him. After all I already have one…"  
  
"Fine." Rinoa held out the GF and Squall took it from her and junctioned it quickly and once again tried to leave the room.  
  
"Are you okay?" Once again Squall faced the girl with a questioning look. "I mean…does it hurt?"  
  
Right away Squall's hand went to his forehead, feeling the scar that he newly acquired the day before. "I'm fine." He turned around once more. "We better get ready." And the two exited the room.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Uncoupling and coupling successful." Watts reported through Squall's communicator. He nodded to Rinoa and they quickly made their way back inside the train followed closely by Zell and Selphie.  
  
Once inside. "You ready?" Zone stood outside the President's car, ready to open the door for the small group. Squall pulled out his gunblade and nodded as the others prepared themselves as well.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"IT'S A DECOY!" Zell shouted as the fake President made contact with Rinoa's face, causing her to fly backwards to the wall. Hitting it hard.  
  
"You FeLl FOR oUR TraP! NoW it'S TimE For YoU TO DIE!!" The fake president growled.  
  
"Everybody! Get Ready!" Squall readied his blade and glared at the decoy. "Where the hell did Watts get his info? The idiot made himself too obvious. They knew that this would happen."  
  
The Fake President dealt a few blows to the fighters causing a few scratches, but was soon screaming in pain after Squall made a slice across his stomach, making blue blood ooze from his abdomen.  
  
"ARGH! YoU WiLL Pay FOR THAT!" The personage of the man soon melted away, as if acid had been poured all over him. Now a tall-disfigured monstrosity stood before them. "I WON'T PLAY WITH YOU ANYMORE!"  
  
Several spells were cast and soon two of the four fighters were knocked unconscious. It was now down to Squall and Rinoa. "Do you have any spells on you?" Rinoa yelled to the frustrated young man.  
  
He nodded and threw out a thundaga.  
  
"How in the world did he find such a strong spell?" Rinoa gawked at him, not realizing that the Gengoro, as he called himself, was heading right for her."  
  
"Look out!" And in less than a second, Rinoa found a headless body toppling on to of her and a oozing head at her feet. Squall was now on the other side of her with his gunblade extended and covered in a dark blue substance.  
  
Rinoa shoved the body away and looked at Squall with surprise and thankfulness. "Hyne, he's quick." "Thank you. I didn't see…"  
  
"That's right. Pay more attention. I probably won't be there next time."  
  
"Hey, listen. I've gone through years of training at the best Garden. I know how to fight…"  
  
"Then how come I just had to save your life?"  
  
Rinoa couldn't think of anything to say back to him. Instead she shut her mouth and attended to her unconscious comrades.  
  
  
  
To be continued…  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
CousinKitchen: Well? Ya like it? R&R please! Till next chapter! 


	7. Televised Tribulations

(A/N): It took an awful long time, but here is the next chapter! Enjoy!!!! Don't forget to R&R!  
  
*`*`*  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Six  
  
Televised Tribulations  
  
As the Zell and Selphie gained consciousness, the door to the train car slide open.  
  
"EWWWW!" Zone quickly covered his nose. "What in Hyne's name…?"  
  
"We just killed a monster." "Get over it." Squall snipped.  
  
Zone, however, didn't seem all that surprised. "So it is true…"  
  
"What?" Rinoa inquired as she helped Zell up.  
  
"Well, there was just a transmission that we heard on the radio. It was about Timber's television station. Apparently the President stopped Timber and didn't continue on…"  
  
Squall couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Really."  
  
"He his going to make a world wide announcement about some sort of sorceress."  
  
"Sorceress?" Rinoa inquired as she helped Zell stand.  
  
"I don't know much more than that…" Zone began to sweat and looked as if he was trying to form some words, but it looked like the words were too painful for him to say out loud. "Uh…well, I was wondering if…um…you guys could…"  
  
"Go to the station?" Rinoa gave Zone a questioning look. "You're the guys who are giving orders, you can order us go."  
  
"Right…yeah." Zone relaxed a little.  
  
Squall started to head to the door but was stopped by Zone.  
  
Squall shot Zone a glare. "What do you want now?"  
  
"Squall, as much as I don't want to do this to you," Squall's glare grew more intense, making Zone grasp his stomach in nervousness. "Well, you see…you didn't really pay us back yet…since the president is still alive…your debt is still unpaid."  
  
"I went to the ball, wore a tuxedo, and got you out of a trap, but still, my debt is unpaid?" "What more do you want?"  
  
"I know you're mad. I understand." Zone began to flinch under Squall's angry gray-blue eyes. "But all you have to do is take him out before his announcement in two hours. Then you can get out of here. We'll be back in Timber in thirty minutes, we'll drop you off to avoid any suspicion."  
  
Zone seemed to relax even more when Squall shook his head and replied with a, "whatever." Apparently he took it as a reluctant okay. He took out a piece of paper with some scribbling on it that looked like an address of some sort. He handed the paper to Rinoa.  
  
"Since you're the leader of your group here, I'll trust you to take everyone to this address should anything go wrong, or if you're just plain lost, go ask the woman there for directions." Rinoa nodded and took the slip of paper.  
  
An uncomfortable silence fell upon the group. Each having their own doubts, but not voicing them. Squall leaned against the wall of the car glaring at Zone at the opposite end feeling Squall's angry glare on him, and so he was clutching his stomach in worry.  
  
Rinoa stood with Selphie and Zell, who were giving Squall questioning looks. They still weren't sure whether they could trust the young man or not. After thirty minutes had passed, the uneasy silence broke with the screeching train breaks.  
  
"Okay, so we know the plan right? Stop the president before his announcement. So I guess we'll see you later." Watts escorted the group off the train and was shaking hands good-bye, but was cut short when he noticed the train leaving without him. "Hey! Zone! You guys! Don't leave without me!"  
  
Rinoa, Selphie, and Zell couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle of the man chasing the train. Squall stood behind them shaking his head in embarrassment of even knowing the man.  
  
"So." Rinoa turned to the group. "Shall we get going?"  
  
"Do you even know where we're going?" Squall questioned her.  
  
"Um…I was hoping that you…"  
  
Squall shook his head. "I've only been here a couple of times and I never really went anywhere but to the hotel and the newspaper building. I never even knew that there was a TV station…"  
  
"Well, it looks like we have to go find that lady and ask directions. Do you know where this address is?" Rinoa showed the piece of paper to Squall.  
  
Squall nodded and signaled for them to follow. After five minutes they came to a tall building of the Timber's worldwide newspaper, the Timber Maniacs.  
  
"The house should be right next door…" Squall pointed to the smaller building.  
  
"Wow, you sure know your way around…" Zell tried to slap the young man on the back. Squall turned and glared at the over zealous young man. The blonde got the gesture and raised his hands in defeat and backed off slowly.  
  
Rinoa laughed at the dramatic scene. "He really wants us to keep our distance, doesn't he? No matter, I can fix that…" Rinoa walked up behind the grumbling youth and tapped him on the shoulder. "Thank you Squall. For showing us to this place, you've been a big help to us."  
  
"I'm not here for your convenience you know…"  
  
Rinoa couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Squall noticed the hurt look she gave. "Man, she's such a baby. But, she is kind of…wait! What am I thinking? As soon as I'm off the hook with that DEAL, I'm out of here! But I guess I should apologize…"  
  
"Look…I'm sorry, it's just…I really don't like it here. I brings back certain memories that I want to forget…"  
  
Rinoa smiled at his attempt of apology. "Wow, that was easier than I thought. Maybe he does have a softer side. I guess I'll have to work on that."  
  
"That's okay, I understand." Rinoa walked past the young man, up to the front door of the house, and knocked.  
  
An older woman answered. She had a large stature that towered over Rinoa, dark hair, and smiling brown eyes. She was wearing an apron, which she was wiping her hands on. "Hello. May I help you?"  
  
"Uh…yes. Yes you can. I was wondering if you could help us find the TV station.  
  
"Oh!" The woman looked like she had just had a revelation and signaled the group to come in. "You must be the people that Watts and Zone were talking about. Please, please! Come in! Just go up the stairs and my kids will tell you what to do."  
  
The small group went up the stairs like they were told and were met with two small kids. One of the kids was doing a headstand over by the window and was pointed to by the other child, who was on the other side of the room.  
  
Rinoa went up to the boy doing the headstand and asked him what they had to do to find the TV station. The little boy told them to go to the window and look down. Rinoa nodded and did as she was told.  
  
"Is this the way?" She turned to the little boy, who now righted himself. "Yep, you just go to the pub and go out the back entrance…now that will be ten gil!"  
  
"What?" the group looked at the smiling boy in shock.  
  
"Listen kid…" Squall stared to lecture but was interrupted by hurried footsteps. The other child had apparently gone to fetch the mother after the other child asked for the payment.  
  
"What did I tell you about doing that!" The woman exclaimed as she went over to the boy to give him a spanking.  
  
"Aw, I changed it from 1,000gil!" he whined in protest as he went back to his headstand.  
  
"Did you find out what you needed to know?"  
  
The group nodded.  
  
"Just remember if you run into trouble, you can always come back here." She escorted them back out, and waved them goodbye.  
  
"She was nice!" Selphie exclaimed. Zell nodded and Rinoa smiled in full agreement. Squall just rolled his eyes. "Wait!"  
  
The group stopped where they were and turned to Selphie. "I just remembered something!" She started to dig around in one of her pockets and soon pulled out what looked like a GF. "I got this a while ago during the SeeD exam. I guess I just sort of forgot about it."  
  
"And what made you think of it now?" Squall asked, quirking an eyebrow.  
  
"I was just thinking of the pub and all those gross foul mouthed men and just thought, 'hey wouldn't it be great to silence them.' And so I thought a GF would be great to just do the whole room, and then I remembered, 'Hey! I got Siren during the exam!'"  
  
Squall covered his face in aggravation. "You mean, to tell us, that you had a GF that could affect one's status and you didn't tell us?"  
  
Selphie nodded enthusiastically.  
  
Squall just shook his head and turned away and let out a very audible sigh. "Forget it. Just forget it, let's just get to the pub."  
  
The group looked at each other with confusion apparent on each of their faces. Never the less, they continued on.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
After a brief scuffle with some soldiers and bribing a drunk with his own Triple Triad card…  
  
"Gee, all that work just to get into an ally way." Zell wiped his forehead in over exaggeration.  
  
Selphie and Rinoa giggled.  
  
"You really have no life do you?" Squall asked the fighter.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Zell had a hurt look on his face and tried to put a hand on Squall's shoulder. Once again, Squall glared and the young blonde backed off again.  
  
The group made their way through the ally and was now going up a set of stairs, when a large TV screen flickered to life.  
  
"Hey!" Zell pointed to the obvious screen. "Would you take a look at that!"  
  
"We're too late." Squall all but growled.  
  
The Vinzer Deling's face popped onto the screen. He had a dishonest sneer plastered on his face. "People of all nations, I come before you today by television. This is the first broadcast in many years and I am proud to be the first person to broadcast after so long. I am here today to make an announcement…"  
  
Squall glared at the screen. "There is something about him that just isn't right. He's hiding something…"  
  
Vinzer continued on, "I wish to introduce to all of you, my new advisor and friend to all of you, Sorceress Edea! Before she comes to speak to you, I'd like to offer a nice introduction. First off…"  
  
Squall couldn't listen to him anymore. If there was one thing he knew, it was that sorceresses were bad, very bad. His thoughts were interrupted by commotion on the big screen.  
  
"What…what is this?" The President yelled.  
  
"Make one false move and off pops your head." Seifer appeared on the screen and he now had the president and was holding his gunblade up to his throat.  
  
The only reason that Seifer could be holding back would be due to the fact that Quistis, along with a few soldiers had filed into the room in order to put a stop to Seifer's behavior.  
  
"Stop this Seifer! I don't know how you got out of detention, but Hyne help me, I'm taking you back!" Quistis screamed at him. Her action only caused Seifer to laugh at her distress.  
  
"Go ahead and try instructor…"  
  
Rinoa couldn't believe what she was seeing. "What the hell does he think he's doing?"  
  
This decided it for Squall. He started running towards the station.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*`*`*  
  
To be continued…  
  
*`*`*`*`*  
  
  
  
CousinKitchen: Sorry it took so long I have been rather busy. I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless.  
  
I apologize for any inaccurate information, but it's my fic! Till next chapter… 


	8. A Sorceress's Knight

CousinKitchen: Again it took a long time and I'm sorry. I was busy graduating and then took a short vacation to a place with no computer. With all things aside, I actually took some time with this chapter. Hopefully it's up to pare.  
  
You may notice some of the scene from the prologue in here. I will try to work with the dream sequences more now since the roles have switched with Caraway and Laguna now. I didn't go into the test or the dream sequences before because they were basically the same as the game.  
  
Please enjoy this chapter and R&R!  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
A Sorceress's Knight  
  
"Rinoa! If you and your team can hear me, get your team here! NOW!" Quistis yelled into the cameras just before they went off the air.  
  
The group made their way through the doors of the studio and found Seifer with his gunblade to the president's throat.  
  
"Seifer! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rinoa yelled at Seifer who had a smug look on his face.  
  
"Well, hello there Princess." Seifer smiled and winked at her. "I was beginning to wonder if you were coming or not, but as you can see, I started the party without you. You know there is plenty of him to go around. What about you, puberty boy, want some?"  
  
Squall only fixed a glare at the overly confident young man. "I don't know what your angle is here Seifer, but this was my job, so you can just stay the hell out of this and go back to whatever dump heap you crawled out of…"  
  
"That's right, just leave this to the professional SeeDs and go back to the Garden!" Zell added  
  
"Garden? SeeD?" The stunned president mumbled.  
  
"You CHICKEN-WUSS! Even I'm not that stupid!" Seifer yelled at the confused blonde.  
  
"Zell, you idiot!" You compromised the mission!" Zell stared at the Rinoa. He couldn't understand just how mentioning the Garden could…  
  
"Whoops."  
  
"Damn right 'whoops'. You are such a chicken-wuss." Seifer snipped with a condescending smirk on his face.  
  
"If I get out of this, I'm sentencing all of you to DEATH! AND I'm going to blow up your precious Garden too!"  
  
"Than I guess that means…" Seifer's smirk turned cynical.  
  
"SEIFER! NO!" Everyone yelled, but it was too late. Seifer slit the man's throat and let the limp body fall to the ground.  
  
"Catch ya later Princess!" Seifer blew a kiss at Rinoa as he fled from the angry invading soldiers.  
  
"Seifer! Stop!" Quistis ran after him.  
  
Rinoa was looking at the ground in surprise. She was shocked to witness Seifer do such a dastardly deed. "Why…"  
  
"We don't have time to think about it." Selphie pleaded as she pulled on Rinoa's arm to follow.  
  
Rinoa looked up to see Squall, Selphie, and Zell chasing after Quistis. A minute later she found her legs moving to follow them. "Why…"  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Boy!"  
  
"What?" Seifer stopped running and looked around the empty studio that he had just ducked into.  
  
"Boy! Come to me!" A voice echoed throughout the studio.  
  
"Who are you, what do you want, and why are you calling me a boy! I'm not a boy!" Seifer yelled angrily into the darkened room. He thought he was going insane. "Hell, maybe I am insane."  
  
"You performed wonderfully today. I called you a boy because you are afraid of reality. You cannot face consequences without running."  
  
"Well, if I'm a boy, then why do you want me?"  
  
"What would you say if I told you that you could live your dream?"  
  
"My…dream?"  
  
"Yes, I want you…to be my knight."  
  
"…Your…knight?"  
  
A section of one of the walls of the studio began to glow eerily and a doorway appeared. A tall dark-haired woman came through. She wore a long revealing violet dress with a high collar. "COME! NOW! Be me protector, my knight!"  
  
The same confident smirk came onto Seifer's face. "Okay…sorceress. It would be my pleasure."  
  
Seifer began to follow the woman through the doorway when the group came running in.  
  
"Seifer! Please, I beg you to stop!"  
  
"You…beg me? Please instructor, don't insult me."  
  
The sorceress became irritated with the stalling and waved her hand at the woman and her company. Freezing all but Squall.  
  
"What the hell?" Squall looked at his companions. Each of them was frozen in shocked poses. He noticed Rinoa who had just come into the room at that time and was too frozen. The poor girl had no clue as to what was going on.  
  
"Well, it looks like Captain Puberty was resistant to the spell, my sorceress." Seifer pointed his gunblade at the young man. "You want me to deal with him?"  
  
The sorceress smirked and shook her head. "No, I have other plans for him. Come my knight, time to make our exit."  
  
Squall couldn't understand what she meant. He watched her with confusion written all over his face as she turned and walked through the doorway with a smug Seifer in tow.  
  
"See ya later, Captain Puberty!"  
  
"Seifer!" Squall growled angrily after the blonde, but it was too late, he was gone. "Damn you Seifer."  
  
"What about Seifer?" Squall noticed Rinoa was now standing right next to him. To his own surprise, he lightly blushed over the proximity of her face. It was way too close for comfort. "He…uh…" He stuttered out the first few words, but soon gained his composure and put his cold uncaring face back on when she backed off a little. "He left with the sorceress. He's gone."  
  
Rinoa's eyes went wide. "You mean to say that you saw him leave?"  
  
"Well…" Squall didn't know how to explain that he was the only one left unfrozen. Hell, he didn't even know why himself. So the best thing for him to do was to lie. "…You don't see him here now do you? And you saw the sorceress in here with him. So the only logical thing to assume would be that he left with her."  
  
Rinoa didn't like the fact that he was talking down to her. She was in charge of the SeeD group the HE had hired. "Why the nerve of that…I could just leave right now with the others. No more help for him, but…" Her anger melted due to the seriousness of the situation. "I guess you're right. But what would a sorceress want with him?"  
  
"I think she called him her 'knight'."  
  
"When?" Rinoa was confused. She didn't remember the sorceress saying anything. She had even heard the whole conversation from down the hall. The only way he could have heard the sorceress EVER say anything would be if…  
  
"You…you weren't frozen…were you?" Rinoa fixed a searching gaze on the fidgeting young man, trying to read his features to see if he'd betray his own lie.  
  
Rinoa's gaze for some reason was making him really uncomfortable. No one had ever gotten him to actually squirm like he was doing now. "It must be the way she was raised. She is a SeeD after all. Lying is useless." Squall sighed in defeat. "No…I wasn't."  
  
"How? How is that possible?" Squall was beginning to feel like he was being interrogated. His eyes shifted from Rinoa to look around the room at the other confused youths.  
  
"Great, it doesn't look like they'll be any help. They're probably wondering the same thing."  
  
"To tell the truth, I don't know. Maybe the sorceress has a soft spot for brunette boys."  
  
"But Seifer's blonde." Zell added to Squall's sarcastic remark. The group only shook their heads.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Rinoa turned her head to the hurried footsteps coming down the hallway. "Oh no, it's the soldiers. They'll probably arrest us if they find us. We better leave now if we want to avoid questions." Rinoa looked around and noticed the neon exit sign. "This way!"  
  
The group followed without protest and was greeted with dim sunset five minutes later. Not a soldier was in sight.  
  
"Looks like we got off scott-free, but now what do we do? The Pres. is dead. That means our mission is over, doesn't it?" Selphie looked at her leader with an inquiring, confused look.  
  
Selphie was right. Rinoa looked at Squall. "So? Are we free to go?"  
  
"It doesn't matter…"  
  
"What?" Rinoa was confused with his answer. "What do you mean 'it doesn't matter'? It does matter. The mission is over…!"  
  
Squall interrupted before she could say more. "I meant what I said! Now that the soldiers saw us, we're wanted criminals. Your BOYFRIEND sort of ruined everything!"  
  
Tears stung Rinoa's eyes. "You're the one that started everything!"  
  
Squall's face remained expressionless. "Why do you think I started everything?"  
  
Tears started rolling down Rinoa's cheeks as she continued yelling at him. "My life…our lives were perfect before you came into the picture. You're the one that came and requested for us! You're the one that wanted help to assassinate the president…!"  
  
"Now wait a damn minute!" Squall cut her off. "You're the one that became a SeeD, I didn't do a damn thing except run away from home. And if you want to blame anyone for anything blame Zone and Watts, blame Cid! They're the ones running this little sideshow circus!"  
  
Rinoa knew he was right, but refused to admit it. She ran off before Squall had another chance to say anything.  
  
"That was interesting." Zell stared in awe at Squall. "The only other person that I have seen to make her cry like that would be Seifer."  
  
"Shut up Zell." Quistis hit the blonde man over the head. "You don't need to make things worse than they already are." She turned her attention to the only person in the group that wasn't angry or confused. "So Selphie, where will we find Rinoa?"  
  
Selphie shrugged. "How would I know? I'm not physic or anything."  
  
Quistis sighed, but was stopped short of explaining by Squall doing it for her. "I think what she's asking is, where are we supposed to go if things go wrong. Rinoa will have probably headed there."  
  
The blue-eyed brunette looked over at Quistis to see if he got it right. She nodded and turned to Selphie to get the answer.  
  
"Oh…he he…sorry. Well, I think we're supposed to go back to that pub owner lady's house."  
  
They all nodded to each other and set off towards the house just as soldiers began to file out of the building.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
At the house, upstairs…  
  
Quistis came up the stairs with her expressionless instructor face on. "It looks like we'll be here for a while. As we speak more soldiers are being stationed on the streets. The pub owner will try her best to make sure that the soldiers don't find out about us."  
  
Quistis surveyed the room with her serious blue eyes. Selphie was on the bed taking a light nap so she could be on the ready if anything surprising happened. Rinoa had arrived ahead of them and was now sitting in the farthest corner of the room, with here head resting on her knees and her arms rapped around her legs, sulking. Zell was busy fighting an imaginary foe and Squall was sitting on the windowsill in deep thought with confusion written on his face.  
  
The room was in complete silence, save the meowing cat that was upset over Selphie taking its usual spot. Quistis didn't like the silence and decided to try to strike up a conversation with the civilian that she had let go free only a day or so ago.  
  
"So…why did you run away from home?"  
  
Squall turned towards the woman with a glare, surprised that she was talking to him, let alone asking such a personal question. "It's none of your business."  
  
"You don't have to be so mean about it." The blonde woman placed both hands on her hips. "You know, you act just like a spoiled little child. The whole world doesn't revolve around you, you know!"  
  
"So what, you don't even know me and now you're judging me?" Squall stood up from the window and walked up face to face with Quistis and growled in a low voice, "I suggest you mind your own business and leave me alone."  
  
The heat of her anger and the proximity of his face made Quistis blush and lose control. She grabbed him behind the head and brought his face to hers and took hold of his lips with hers. Quistis had thought that he was returning the gesture but in all actuality, he was trying to pry away form her. When he finally managed to pull away, he spat at her and wiped his mouth. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you insane?"  
  
All the eyes of the room were now on the couple. Quistis was blushing furiously over his reaction. "But I thought…?"  
  
"You thought what?" The young man continued glaring at the object of his displeasure. "I gave you now such hints and I definitely didn't ask for…for…THAT!"  
  
"Am I interrupting something?" A voice came from the stairwell.  
  
"Nothing, you're interrupting nothing." Squall replied with iciness in his voice as he continued his cold glare at the cringing Quistis.  
  
"I'm just up here to tell you that everything is clear and that you guys can go."  
  
They all nodded and headed down the stairs and out the door.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
The group stood outside the house discussing their next plan of action. "So I guess what we need to do now is head to the East Academy Station and go to the nearest Garden. The Galbadia Garden."  
  
Everyone nodded and began to head to the train station until they heard a "Psst!"  
  
Rinoa turned around and surveyed the area to see a lone soldier emerging from an ally way. "Oh no! We've been spotted!"  
  
The soldier was looking directly at them. She signaled for everyone to get out their weapons and to prepare for a fight.  
  
"NO! WAIT! It's me! Watts!" The group breathed sighs of relief and stood down. They walked over to the relieved Watts.  
  
"Sorry to scare you guys like that." Watts laughed nervously at the jumpy group and heard a "whatever" come form the ever-cheerful Squall. "I'm here to make sure that you guys aren't found out. Zone is over by the station, talk to him and he'll get you guys some tickets, okay?"  
  
Everyone nodded and did as they were told, and headed towards the trains.  
  
"Hey guys!" An old man waved in their direction as they walked up to the ticket both.  
  
"So where are the tickets Zone?" Squall walked up to the perpetually nervous man.  
  
"Hey Squall…the tickets are right here in my hand. I…uh…I'm sorry about everything. Please forgive us, we never thought that everything would turn out so…so wrong."  
  
Squall shook his head. "Forget it. Just give us the tickets."  
  
"Right!" The man laughed nervously. "Here's one for you, three for our SeeDs and one for me…er…I mean…and one for this beautiful young woman!"  
  
Squall shook his head. "He never changes."  
  
"You better hurry! You don't want to miss your train!"  
  
Rinoa ran up to him. "But what about you?"  
  
"You don't have to worry. No one knows that Watts and I were involved except you guys, so we're safe. It's you guys that are in danger." Zone smiled his best at the young brown-eyed girl.  
  
Rinoa giggled in response.  
  
"Please," Squall thought. "The guys a complete moron. Why is she giggling at him?"  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Minutes later on the train…  
  
"Those two were rather nice, I wish there was some way to repay them." Quistis pondered out loud to break the cold silence that was plaguing the room.  
  
"Hn, I know of a good way to thank him." Violent thoughts of killing Zone filled Squalls mind.  
  
"And that would be?" Quistis asked out of curiosity.  
  
"The guys a pervert. Just get him a dirty magazine, and he's set for life."  
  
The woman all blushed she hadn't expected that answer. Zell only laughed.  
  
The rest of the train ride was in silence.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
The group stepped off the train at East Academy and headed off towards the Garden, but now found themselves in some familiar woods.  
  
"Huh?" Zell stopped in mid-step. "Hey! Wait! I know this place!"  
  
Selphie stopped and looked around. "You know what? I do too! This is where Sir Laguna lead us!"  
  
Rinoa looked around after Zell stopped and noticed nothing familiar about the place. "I don't recognize it. I guess it's because I was with that Caraway guy." She stopped looking around and noticed Squall cringe at the mention of Selphie's "Sir Laguna".  
  
"Squall? Are you okay?" Quistis noticed Squall's sour look too and started to walk over to him. She stopped halfway there when she got a dizzy spell and fell down into some foliage.  
  
"What the hell?" Squall noticed Rinoa and Selphie fall down too. "What's going on?"  
  
"Wow! It happened to Quistis this time!" Squall ran over to Rinoa and took her pulse as Zell stared on in amazement.  
  
"What do you mean?" The stormy-eyed man growled and the wide-eyed blonde.  
  
"I mean last time it was Selphie, Rinoa, and me. But this time it happened to Quistis."  
  
"Last time?" Squall caulked an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh…sorry. I guess I'm making no sense. They all must have gone into the 'dream world'."  
  
"The 'dream world'? What's that?" Squall was utterly confused.  
  
Zell scratched his head trying to figure out a way to answer the questions that the young man was throwing at him. "It's kind of hard to explain it to someone who has never experienced it, but…you see…to tell you the truth, I really don't know myself…"  
  
Squall stared at the hopeless blonde. "I was actually beginning to have hope for this guy, but this is pitiful…"  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Well, it looks like we lost them. Our little traps took care of them." Kiros reported to the tall serious elder of the group.  
  
"Good thinking on your part Kiros, thank you." The distinguished man patted the lanky soldier on the back. "I can see why Laguna thinks so highly of you. Now lets get out of here." He turned to the returning Ward. "You find a way out?"  
  
The large man took a few gasps of air to gain his composure before reporting. "I didn't get any time. I saw one possibility, but I think that I was followed on my way back…"  
  
"Good, just lead the way and maybe we can surprise a few of the soldiers with some head-on tactics."  
  
The two men looked skeptical but followed the orders nonetheless. The three men charged down the narrow corridors on the Lunatic Pandora and charged at the sparse soldiers, dispatching them quickly. "Wow, good call Caraway, it would seem your tactics are working like a charm." Kiros said with satisfaction written on his face.  
  
However their confidence quickly diminished when the whole area was flooded with angry Esthar soldiers.  
  
"Damn it!" Caraway yelled at himself. "I can't believe that I was so stupid and confident as to think that we could have surprised them. As soon as we get out of this, I'm leaving the service for good and starting a family."  
  
Kiros looked at the disheartened leader. He was better than Laguna, but he still missed that blundering fool. He just wished that Laguna were there now with them with his optimism that everything would turn out the way it should. "At least he got to stay in Deling with Julia." He chuckled to himself. "He's probably made himself look more of the idiot without us there."  
  
Ward felt the same as Kiros. He missed the fearless leader, or should he say hopelessly optimistic leader. "Caraway is a great guy." He tried to convince himself. "He is a good leader, but he ain't Laguna."  
  
The three traveled the winding tunnels, of what looked like some sort of a mine, with Esthar soldiers hot on their tails.  
  
"Think that we can break through?" Kiros asked Caraway.  
  
The man gave a look of uncertainty and turned away from his comrades. Luckily he spotted a latter just ahead. He gestured towards their means of salvation. "Lets go!" He ordered his men.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Great, a dead end." Kiros said stating the obvious.  
  
Kiros thought to himself. "What would Laguna do in this situation?" Then he spotted them. "Look! Boats! We're home free! All we gotta do is swim for it!"  
  
Caraway eyed the man as if he were crazy. "You think we could survive the jump?"  
  
Kiros wasn't sure himself, but it was worth a try. "We don't know unless we try…oh crap!"  
  
The three men looked behind themselves to find that they were surrounded. "What now, Caraway?" Ward asked.  
  
Caraway was wondering how Laguna could put up with so many questions, but then again, it was Laguna. He only met him once, but that was all that he need to know how much of a heroic moron he was. "We'll fight, then jump."  
  
The other two men nodded.  
  
The battle against the small army of Esthar soldiers seemed to be going their way, until one soldier used a move that injured all three of the men.  
  
"What…the hell?" Kiros groaned. "How did they…?"  
  
"Are you two okay?" Caraway asked in concern as he dispatched the last soldier.  
  
"…Car…away…La…gu…na…" Ward rasped out.  
  
"It looks like his throat was injured." Kiros stated the obvious once more.  
  
"Are you two up for jumping?"  
  
"Oh, what the Hell." The two men thought to themselves as they went over the edge of the cliff.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"Uh…" The raven-haired girl rubbed her head as she brought herself up onto her knees.  
  
"Are you okay?" The young woman was surprised when she looked up to come face to face with the stormy-eyed Squall.  
  
"And why are you so concerned all of the sudden." She shoved him away, still angry about his comments from earlier. She turned away from him brushing the dirt off of herself.  
  
"I just don't want to have to drag your unconscious body all the way to this Galbadia Garden of yours.  
  
Amazingly it hurt that he wasn't truly worried about her. Deep down Rinoa was hoping that he was really concerned about her. "Well, you wouldn't really have to. After all, you're no longer employing us. The Deling President is dead and our contract is expired now. You can just leave whenever you want to."  
  
Rinoa expected that at any moment, she would hear retreating footsteps, but instead they were heading towards her. She turned around to be again face to face with Squall. "What the hell does he want?"  
  
"I can't do that."  
  
"Why?" The young man was really starting to get on her nerves. "If he doesn't care about us or Zone and Watts, why the hell does he stay?"  
  
"It's none of your business, but just know that I'm not leaving. I'm involved in all of this somehow, but I don't know how or why. Just don't ask anymore questions."  
  
Rinoa could here the sad, despondent tone in his voice, but convinced herself that she didn't care, so she dropped the subject and started walking down the path as the others stared to pick themselves off of the ground. "Lets go on then."  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
"This place is bigger than our garden!" Selphie ran through the front gate followed by the rest of the exhausted group.  
  
"You still have energy left? Man after fighting about fifty monsters I'm totally thrashed!" Zell fell to his knees just watching the energetic girl.  
  
"Hurry up Zell!" Quistis pulled up her tired former student. "We need to find someone from the Garden so we can inform the Headmaster that we're here so he can contact Cid."  
  
The martial artist sighed and followed the group to the entrance of the Garden. Someone had to have spotted them, because just as they were entering two messengers came up to them. One said to follow them to follow them to the reception room, and the other guided Quistis to talk to the Headmaster Martine.  
  
*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*  
  
Rinoa sat on the couch in the reception room staring at everyone. Zell was actually sitting down for once on the couch across from her, no doubt that he was sleeping. Selphie couldn't sit so she resigned herself to looking out a window. Squall was over by the door leaning against the wall, once again in deep thought.  
  
"I wonder what he thinks about…wait a minute. I don't care, he's just a selfish, stubborn handsome…damn, I hate him…" Rinoa shook her head, getting the attention of the brunette boy.  
  
"What's the matter?" he asked with genuine concern in his eyes.  
  
"I was just thinking…" Rinoa cursed to herself, she was actually blushing. "…I was thinking that…gee, Quistis has been gone for SUCH a long time, I wonder where she could be?"  
  
Squall knew that she was avoiding the subject for some reason, but decided not to pursue the subject any further. "Don't know, don't care."  
  
"He really doesn't like her, I wonder if it could have been that kiss…Darn it! I'm doing it again! Stupid, stupid, stupid…" Rinoa winced as she kept punching herself mentally. She could she the confused young man on the other side of the room about to say something again, but the door opening beside him interrupted him.  
  
Quistis entered the room with a pale, devastated look on her face. "He's dead…Seifer's dead."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*`*`*`*`*  
  
To be continued…  
  
*`*`*  
  
  
  
CousinKitchen: I made a few changes in the story line to make things more interesting. You'll see what I mean later. I hope you enjoyed it! It was actually long! Please be patient for the next chapter! I know I say that I won't take as long and I lie every time, this time I won't. You must forgive me for taking so long. I do have other stories to finish. Till next chapter… 


	9. Cursed Tombs and Assassinations

Disclaimer: I think everyone by now knows that I don't own FF8 or any of it's characters.

CousinKitchen: OH MY!!! What's this? I'm actually updating? No you're not dreaming. This is absolutely true, so don't faint on me. I'm sorry it took so long. It's just that I got lazy over the summer and I started my first year of college this semester.

I'd apologize some more, but the other part of my laziness is due to getting a new computer that doesn't have a program that is compatible with any other computers. In other words all my documents are wps, which in turn means that I have to send all my stories to a friend of mine, who posts it for me.

I commend you for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter despite how random it my seem at times. I assure you it's good and I tried not to change the personnalities too much, though I think Squall is coming off softer than I want him to. Just hang in there and now I introduce the NEW CHAPTER!!!!!!

*`*`*`*`*`*

Chapter Eight

****

Cursed Tombs and Assassinations

*`*`*

"What?" Selphie looked wide-eyed at the solemn Quistis. Her reaction matched the others in the room. "What do you mean dead?"

Quistis kept her eyes on the floor as she spoke. "The sorceress took it upon herself to satisfy Deling's want for revenge against the killer of the President…they announced sentence around the time that we were in the forest…and passed it an hour ago…"

"Man…I hated the guy but I would never wish such a thing on anyone." Zell turned his eyes to his feet, suddenly finding them very interesting.

"I…I never really knew him, but I doubt he deserved it…even though he did kill someone…then again, now that I think about it…" Selphie began to ramble turning to the window deep in thought about the whole situation.

"I taught the guy and I never really liked his attitude, but he was misunderstood…maybe if I had paid more attention to him he wouldn't have…"

"Hn." Squall caught everyone's attention when he started chuckling to himself. "Listen to all of you. Getting sentimental over someone that never would have given you a second thought had he killed you. Now look at you, trying to make the guy sound good now that he's dead, coming up with all sorts of excuses for him. I can tell you that if I die during all of this, I don't want anyone doing the same to my memory. I don't even want people talking about me in the past tense when I die…I die.

"I don't believe it." All eyes turned to Rinoa's shaking form. Squall looked at her eyes to see tears spilling from them.

"Don't believe what?" Zell looked at her as if she had suddenly lost it.

"Any of it. Seifer isn't dead! And you!" Rinoa pointed a shaky accusing finger at a confused Squall. "You of all people talking like that! You didn't even know him! I hope you're satisfied!"

Squall blinked in confusion as the angry girl thrust herself up from the couch in his direction, slapped him, and exited the room.

"I hope you're happy." Selphie put her hands on her hips and gave Squall a criticizing glare.

"What?" The young man tried to piece together the scene that had just played out before him and how he ended up being on the receiving end of all the anger.

"Now she's upset! I think you should apologize!" Selphie strode up to him and gave him a shove out the door as the others nodded in agreement to her suggestion and rooted her on.

In seconds Squall found himself out in the middle of an empty hallway unsure of where to go when suddenly two strangers walked up to him. One was a tall dark young man and the other a short silver-haired, what he guessed was a woman.

"YOU!" The woman pointed and shouted, her voice echoing down the deserted corridor.

Squall pointed to himself while trying to keep a serious look on his face, rather one of amusement due to the fact that the woman was yelling and pointing at him when he was the only one in the hallway.

The taller one, obviously thinking that he didn't know whom his companion was talking to, nodded. "Yeah you, do you know where the Balamb Garden SeeD's are, ya know?"

The brunette young man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right through this door. What do you want; you have to tell me before I let you in. I am after all responsible for them."

The young woman didn't seem to go for the obvious lie. "NO!"

"All right then, have it your way. You're not going in." Squall glared at them with stormy blue eyes, preparing for a scuffle.

"MOVE!" The smaller of the two started to pull out a weapon, but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"No, you don't need to fight." A voice from behind them replied calmly.

"RINOA! MESSAGE!" The petite woman gave the SeeD a solute, the same with her partner.

"Cid told us to tell you right away, ya know." The taller of the two mumbled his words quickly.

The raven-haired young woman smiled and signaled for them to enter the room. Squall was surprised that she had been there, until she spoke up after the odd pair walked into the room.

"I was running down the hallway and noticed them headed this way, but don't get the wrong idea, I'm still mad at you."

Squall nodded and followed her with a quick pace into the silent room. He decided it was best to stay away from the rest of the group who were still sending glares in his direction, so he went back to his post against the wall by the door.

"We was told to give you guys a message, ya know." Raijin started out, only to get a kick in the shin from Fujin.

"We already know that, what is it?" Rinoa gestured for the man in pain to continue.

Looking at his partner to receive a nod to continue, he went on. "Cid knows that you guys are done with the mission, after receiving word from Headmaster Martine, ya know. So he wants you guys to go with Galbadia on another mission, ya know."

"And that is?" Again Rinoa gestured for him to continue.

"UNKNOWN!" Fujin interjected.

"Yeah, you guys have to talk to Martine in two hours at the front gates, ya know."

The group all had disbelieving looks on their faces. This seemed to be happening quite often, going on unknown missions.

"Um…" Quistis noticed the two were about to leave and stopped them before they could get out the door. "Did you hear what happened earlier…that Seifer was executed?"

Raijin turned around with a goofy loop sided grin spread across his face. "Yeah, but we think that what was told to the public was…"

"LIES! SEIFER ALIVE!"

"We'll look for him, ya know." The muscle bound man added sadly.

"Even if he is sided with this new sorceress lady?" Squall added.

"SEIFER FRIEND!" Fujin glared at Squall's addition to the conversation.

"Yeah, we're Seifer's friends. No matter what side he's on, we'll stand by him, ya know."

Rinoa let out a sad, disappointed sigh. "I wish you guys luck, and I hope the next time we meet it's as friends and not enemies."

"GOOD-BYE!"

"See ya!" The two made a quick exit, leaving the room that was quickly filling with tension.

"I can see that you guys are still made at me." Squall said in an indifferent voice. "I'm guessing what they say about spending too much time in small rooms with people is true, but I'll make it easier on you and just go walk around. Is that okay?"

They all nodded as the brunette made his exit. Not long after the others decided that with two hours to kill, that they had plenty of time to look around the huge garden.

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

Out on a balcony of Galbadia…

Squall took a deep cleansing breath of fresh air as he gazed out to the surrounding vegetation. He was sitting on a bench right next to the balcony entrance. Never in his life did he think things would take this turn. His "father" always tried hard to avoid letting him join the army or SeeD. Of course that didn't stop him from sending him to Galbadia to give them messages. Despite the fact that he tried, Laguna could never escape the army.

He laughed to himself. If only Laguna could see him now. He'd have a heart attack. Of course he wasn't too pleased with what was happening either. He was now stuck with a rag-tag team of SeeDs. How they ever made it, he didn't know. Supposedly they were the best of the best. But each was too different from each other.

He sighed once again, hoping that in some instance his whole life was just some horrible dream. That at any moment he would wake up, he'd be little again and he would wake up to see his mother singing to him. He shook the memory from his mind and told himself that it wasn't possible.

The young brunette took one more deep breath and started to get up when he heard the door to the balcony open revealing a brown-eyed, raven-haired girl. Squall decided that since she had yet to see him that he would wait to move till she left.

He could here her talking to herself, though he couldn't make out what she was saying. He decided to reveal himself before she embarrassed herself, but stopped when she started to sing. It was the same song that his mother sang. And to his surprise, she had a beautiful voice that floated in harmony through the air. It was almost entrancing.

After a few minutes of listening with his eyes closed, he was startled by a sudden squeak. His eyes snapped opened and noticed a startled Rinoa standing at the balcony railing.

"What?" Squalls mind then began to slowly remember that the young woman hadn't known that he was there and suddenly found him behind her.

"Were you there the whole time?" Rinoa's voice came out shaky out of nervousness.

Squall nodded. "Don't worry, I couldn't hear anything you said before you started to sing." The young man paused as he noticed Rinoa's face blush a dark red. "I don't see why you are embarrassed, you don't have that bad of a voice."

"Was that a…compliment?"

Squall got up and headed to the door, not wanting to face the girl for much longer. "Maybe."

"So you are human after all."

"Whatever." He began to reach for the panel to open the door when Rinoa's voice stopped him.

"Thank you."

Squall turned and let a small shadow of a smile flash on his face as he turned to leave once more.

"Wait!" Rinoa ran up to him. "We still have an hour. Why don't you stay a talk to me?"

The young man was starting to get annoyed but turned back to the bench and sat down. He didn't know exactly why he did. Normally he would have mumbled another "whatever" and left, but something stopped him from going through the door. "_But what stopped me?_ _Maybe this can be the apology for earlier, but why do I care about that anyway? I don't need to apologize. I did nothing wrong. _"

Rinoa smiled brightly and sat next to the silent man. "First off, why are you in a restricted area?"

That was a question that Squall didn't want to explain, but he knew sooner or later it would have to be answered. He drew in a breath trying to think of a good way to answer. "I come here a lot, so they just let me go wherever I want."

"Why do you come here so often?"

"I was a military errand boy for a man named Laguna, I don't wish to say anything more about it."

"Oh." Rinoa nodded her understanding and turned her attention to the landscape. She was still furious with him, but for some reason, the way he was acting at the moment, he was so detached and distant, she just didn't want to spoil the moment so she just sat next to him in silence for the next hour.

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

An hour later at the entrance of the Galbadia Garden…

Rinoa hadn't noticed the time until Squall cleared his throat and pointed to his watch. She now found herself running to the already gathered group and a headmaster Martine tapping his foot impatiently.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching the time." Rinoa saluted nervously as Martine dismissed her excuse with a wave of his hand.

"I gave you two hours." Rinoa gave a small nervous laugh and went to her spot in line with Squall following her every step.

"You're not a SeeD, you don't have to salute or anything." Squall shook his head in response and then stiffened when Martine came his way.

"Well, if it isn't Squall Loire. Laguna has been wondering where his rebellious son has gone. Did you run off to join SeeD?"

Squall's expression darkened at the mention of Laguna's name. "He doesn't have a son. And I don't have a father."

Martine drew back surprised. "He wasn't kidding when he said that you two parted on bad terms. Why don't you just forgive him and go back home."

The brunette shook his head. "He doesn't deserve forgiveness. Besides, we're not here to talk about his problems are we?"

Martine looked at the young man with pity and stepped back. "If you're tagging along with this group, you're definitely not going to want to now." Martine turned to address the rest of the group.

"Cid was filled in on your current situation. I congratulate you on your first completed mission, but I'm afraid that you have another one." Martine paused to look at the travel weary group. Each one looked to be extremely tired, that was everyone but Squall.

The headmaster handed a folder to Rinoa as he took a deep breath before continuing. "Your next mission is to...assassinate the sorceress Edea." This time he got a surprised reaction from the new SeeDs.

After a few minutes, the dark-haired girl raised her hand. "Excuse me sir?" Rinoa didn't look up from the folder as she talked to the headmaster. "But this says that we will need a sniper and we have no one on our team with that kind of training..."

Martine interrupted the girl before she could go on. "I realize that, so that's why Galbadia Garden will be aiding you in this mission. It just so happens that he have the best sniper there is. His name is Irvine Kinneas. Kinneas!" Martine turned and signaled to a man lying in the grass to come and join them.

I tall young man wearing a long, brown, leather coat, brown pants, a violet shirt, and a cowboy hat came waltzing up to the disciplined group. "Howdy there." He tipped his hat to Quistis, Rinoa, and Selphie. "It's mighty nice to meet such beautiful ladies, it'll be a pleasure working with ya'll."

Both Zell and Squall rolled their eyes, while the women giggled amongst themselves.

Martine interrupted the sharp-shooter's introduction by clearing his throat. "You really must be on your way, you must get there before the big parade. Once you arrive in Deling..."

"Deling?" Squall shot Martine a look of suspicion. "You don't mean that..." The young brunette drifted off in mid-sentence as the sudden realization of his father still having involvement in military affairs hit him.

"Yes Squall, the SeeDs are to report to Laguna Loire for a briefing of the operation." Martine smirked as he heard the stormy-eyed youth give off a groan of distaste.

"Now hurry to the Far East Galbadia train station. Your train leaves in twenty minutes. Just show them your IDs and then you'll be on your way. Dismissed." Martine gave a final salute to the group who saluted back as he turned to leave.

Rinoa turned to Squall who looked not too pleased about the current situation. "So we get to meet your father, huh?" Squall groaned in response. "Loire...I've heard that name before..."

Squall turned to leave before the dark-haired girl could say anymore. "Let's just get going." He grumbled as he headed down the sidewalk.

"WAIT!" Rinoa called out to his retreating form, causing him to stop and turn back to give her an irritated look. "We should split into groups, it'll probably be better that way."

Irvine cleared his throat to get Rinoa's attention. "Will it be okay if I go with these two?" He pointed to either side of him at a blushing Selphie and Quistis who was shaking her head.

Rinoa nodded and turned back to Squall. "It looks like you're with me and Zell then...that's if you still want to come..."

Squall shrugged his shoulders and turned to walk away again. "Whatever."

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

"And then...POW! I took down that nasty monster." Zell punched through the air, imitating the defeat that he had for his first ever fight in the training center at garden.

Rinoa looked on at the excited young man with slight interest as Squall walked ahead of the two trying hard to ignore their presence. "_Why did I have to get stuck with these two? That Irvine guy will pay for this, but then again...he did take that blonde woman with him..._"

Zell continued punching away at his imaginary foe as the group made their slow progress towards the train station. The road was so familiar to the gloomy brunette. He had run so many errands for Laguna, grudgingly, but he had.

"Squall?" Rinoa had come up behind him, causing his train of thought to crash. "Are you okay? It seems that the closer we get to the station, the angrier you get."

Squall growled and glared at the concerned girl next to him. "It's none of your business."

Rinoa pulled back and began to find great interest in watching her feet as the walked on. He face a bit sad at the man's angry outburst. "_Why is he so distant again?_" The brown-eyed girl wondered to herself. "_I thought that I had at least made some progress. I guess he really doesn't like his father._" Rinoa paused and continued to think to herself. "_I wish that I had that sort of luxury..._"

"Trust me, you don't." Squall had stopped as well leaving Zell to continue on to battle his invisible foes.

"I don't, what?" Rinoa looked up in shock at the stormy-eyed brunette. "_Did he just read my thoughts?_"

"No. What makes you think that I can read people's minds? I'm not psychic."

Rinoa's eyes only got wider. "Yes you are." She said out loud. "Either that you're really good at guessing what I'm thinking."

This time Squall turned to face her. He fixed a glare on her, but softened his face a bit. It looked like he was about to say something, but he closed his mouth and turned back around. "Let's just get going."

"Wait!" Rinoa reached out and grabbed Squall's arm. "I have to ask you, has Zell been saying anything the whole time that we've been walking?"

"Yeah." The young man grumbled in remembrance. "He's been going on and on about his first victory in your Garden's training center, or should I say every victory he's ever had..."

"Uh-huh." A mischievous smile spread across the young woman's face. "I do believe you're psychic Squall."

The young man quirked an eyebrow and stared at her in total disbelief. "And what would give you such a crazy idea like that?"

"Because..." Rinoa brought her face closer to the skeptic brunette. "Zell hasn't said anything at all. He's only been punching at the air making occasional grunts, but saying nothing."

Squall's stared melted into a glare and he pulled his arm away from Rinoa's grasp and continued down the road after the oblivious Zell. "Whatever."

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

"What took y'all so long?" Irvine mocked the other group of three as they marched onto the train. Irvine stood leaning on the wall opposite of the carts entrance, Quistis stood across from him looking out the window and not paying any attention to the new comers, and Selphie stood jumping up and down at the door to the SeeD cabins.

Zell had entered first, then Squall, and then a amused Rinoa. The dark haired woman paid no heed to the new cowboy and walked over to let the giddy girl have her way.

Selphie let out a squeal of glee as the door flew open. Her train song could be heard reverberating from the other side of the door. Irvine took this as his cue and followed after the girl.

"Pervert." Squall grumbled as he took the cowboys place. This caused all the three other occupants to turn and look at the young man suspiciously. "What?" Squall growled as he eyed the curious expressions of the others. "Didn't you just hear what he said? I don't about you but I find it pretty offensive." He eyed them a moment longer, their mouths still wide open. "Whatever." He turned his attention to the nearby window.

"Squall?" Quistis tried to get the brunettes attention. "Irvine didn't...say anything." The young man never turned to face her. His eyes continued to watch the passing scenery. She turned to Rinoa, who hadn't seemed as surprised as her. "Is it me or is he..."

Rinoa shrugged her shoulders and crouched down and wrapped her arms around her legs and placed her chin on her knees. "I don't know what's going on, but he was doing that the whole way to the train station. It's kinda freaky." She looked up at the brooding brunette. "But at least he's talking more." She gave him a soft smile despite the fact that he wasn't paying attention to her.

Quistis sighed and turned to Zell. "Did you know about this?"

The blonde fighter shook his head. "Didn't have a clue, but whatever's going on sounds mighty interesting." He then turned on his heel and headed into the SeeD compartments.

"_What in Hyne's name is going on?_" Squall thought to himself. "_Am I slowly going insane?_" He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the headache that was slowly coming on.

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

Three hours later in the Deling train station...

"It's big." Selphie walked out of the train in awe with a love-sick Irvine right behind her. He tried to take her hand, but she'd just shake him off. "I've never been to Deling in person before...it's so cool. Even better than in that dream world..."

"Hn." Squall shook his head at the gawking girl. "It's not that great." He grumbled under his breath as he began to stalk towards the escalators.

The rest of the group wanted to stare at the city just as much as Selphie, but were forced to follow closely behind Squall who knew well of where to go. He also showed signs of just wanting to get the whole thing over with.

Rinoa quickly caught up with the stormy-eyed man and tapped him on the shoulder to at least get some of his attention. What she got was a quick side glance and a growling what. "What's your father like?"

Squall groaned, "He's not what you would call a father, more of the man who just helped in my being able to live. In no ways has that man acted like a father to me."

"Sounds like someone is in need of a good venting." Irvine chided.

Squall threw a glare at the surprised cowboy. "No amount of 'venting' will do me any good. I could go out and kill a thousand Wendigo, but that won't make me any more closer to my...to Laguna."

"I didn't say anything..." Irvine stuttered.

Squall stopped and made sure he got everyone's attention. "All right, from now on if you wish to talk at all, make sure that I can see your lips move and if you have any more thoughts screaming at me, I swear..." The brunettes eyes flashed an angry gray color as he yelled at the group.

"It's not our fault that you can read minds." Rinoa replied after giving the young man a good hard slap. "Now stop telling us what we can and cannot do. We're SeeDs and are no longer under your contract. It was your choice to be here so don't get mad at us. We're not used to some like you who seems to be able to hear every private thought that anyone has."

During her lecture, Squalls eyes changed back to their confused blue as he stared unfocused into space. It wasn't the first time that she had slapped him or humbled him. "_Am I really that commanding?_" He thought to himself. "_Am I so cruel that all she can do to me anymore is slap me? What is this girls problem?_"

Rinoa seethed as she watched the young man slowly touch his hand to his cheek. "It serves you right, you...you...you big...MEANIE!" She huffed as she turned and folded her arms across her chest.

The skeptical that the two put on seemed to have attracted a crowd. The little fight brought people all around to form a circle around the group. Occasional jeering from men and woman could be heard like, "You tell him girl!", and "You gonna let her get away with dissin' ya like that?"

The two slowly came back to reality and quickly noticed their errors of fighting at the moment. The rest of the group began to slowly shoo away the spectators. Moans and groans of the disappointed watchers echoed in the streets. Squall could hear some of the people comparing him with Laguna saying that he was a spineless as his father. For some reason it hurt him to hear that. Not only them saying he was spineless, but his father too.

After a few minutes, he remembered that his sentiments were exactly the same and he shook the thoughts out of his head. "_Who cares about what they think about Laguna anyways_."

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

"You're kidding me." Squall stared completely baffled at what the soldier in front of him just said. "So I can't even go inside my own house?"

The soldier nodded. "Laguna has decided that the only way for the SeeDs to prove themselves capable enough to take on this mission, they must go to the Tomb of the Unknown King and retrieve the ID tag of the missing student. And seeing as how you're traveling with them, it's best that you just go along with what he asks."

Squall shook his head. "Whatever." He turned his back to the soldier and began to walk off. The group behind him seemed a bit miffed at the sudden order but followed anyway.

"Do you know much about this Tomb?" Rinoa asked the fuming young man.

"I've been there many times and know the place really well. It's where I got this." Squall showed Rinoa the GF that he had junctioned on his weapon.

"What GF is it?"

"The brothers Sacred and Minotaur."

"What do they do?" Rinoa watched as the young man put his weapon away.

"They are earth elementals, think about it."

Rinoa wasn't too thrilled with the blunt explanation, but understood because he hated it when he had to have conversations. "Okay."

"I have a question." Irvine raised his hand from the back of the group as they made their way to a car rental place. "What's so special about this tomb, why is it that we have to go there?"

Squall could see a bit of apprehension in the gunman. "Scared?"

Irvine shook his head. "Not really, but could you answer my question?"

Squall strolled up to the young man while Rinoa and Quistis went to go get a car, leaving him, Selphie, Zell, and Irvine alone. "It's a special tomb. Many undead monsters live there, very high levels."

Irvine nodded at the brunette slowly as he seemed to contemplate something in his mind.

"I don't think that that will happen anytime in the next century, just stick with praying to Hyne for now." The brunette quipped at the cowboy as he turned around to find the two other women were now back and were waving about set of car keys.

"Let's get going!" Rinoa shouted as she headed to a large blue van.

*`*`*`*`*

To be continued...

*`*`*`*

CousinKitchen: Well? Let me know what you think! I LOVE REVIEWS! I don't mind criticisms either cause I really don't go back and read anything so I'm not even sure if I'm following my own story line. Aw...who cares WHAT you say, JUST SAY SOMETHING!(^o^)


	10. Success and Presumed Failiure

Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII and so on and so on

(A/N): I can see the satisfied smiles. Yes I FINALLY updated, but this has to be a fluke right? Maybe, but the chapter was always half written and at this point I think that I'll just post whatever I have...which isn't much I guess.

Well, I hope that this chapter is worthy and I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to R&R for this unworthy author. Hugs and smiles all around!

Chapter Nine

*`*`*

Success and Presumed Failure

*`*`*`*`*

"Watch your step." Squall called back to the group as he led them into the darkness of the tomb.

"This place is really creepy." Selphie's eyes darted around noticing all the cobwebs and monster carcasses.

"Well in that case," The new sharp-shooter placed one of his arms around the small girl's shoulders. "You can just hold tight to me and you'll be safe."

Selphie gave the cowboy a side glare before unwrapping his arm from around her. "I'd rather be scared, thank you."

Rinoa quickly made her way up to Squall's side and tapped him on the shoulder, "Um, what should we prepare ourselves for, fearless leader?"

The tall brunette gave her a strange look as if to say, "What do you mean 'fearless leader'?" but shook his head and turned away to scan the tomb's floors for any signs for the ID. "Well, you should watch our for Forbiddens mostly. The other monsters here are pretty easy if you have enough magic."

Rinoa nodded and turned around to report to her group. Before they got too far into the Unknown King's tomb they spotted a broken weapon and a cracked ID tag. Rinoa gasped and brought her hand up to her mouth. "You don't think that they..."

"_You'd think that she'd be used to things like this..._" Squall rolled his eyes as he bent down to pick up the ruined ID. It was almost completely severed in half, along with the weapon. This person not only got attacked by a monster, but it wasn't an ordinary one. "Forbiddens..."

"Are they really that strong?" Zell asked as he squatted down next to Squall, taking the ID from him as the stormy-eyed young man stood up to look down the passageway.

"Not really, but they are if they use their death spells or attack in large groups. And from the looks of it, this Trent Polvin wasn't too lucky."

Irvine chuckled as he added his two cents in. "Must have been one pissed off forbidden."

Squall glanced back at the sharpshooter with a glare, but turned his attention back to the passageway.

"What's wrong?" Rinoa took the damaged ID from the martial artist and pocketed it as she went to Squall's side.

"Something's not right here. I've already freed the king's trapped soul, so I don't know what...?" Squall's voice drifted off as the echoing creaks of bones reached the groups ears.

"Dear Hyne, is that what I think it is?" Quistis joined the other two as they stared down into the darkness.

Squall nodded as he turned to both of the young women and started shoving them towards the tomb's entrance. "OUT! GET OUT NOW!"

They group didn't need to be told again. They all rushed as fast as they could to the entrance of the tomb with the sounds of creaking bones on their heels.

"We're not going to make it!" Rinoa shouted just before she fell.

Squall turned his head to the dark haired girl that just tripped. He stopped to help her up and took this time to get a good look at just what was behind them.

Hoards of skeletons swinging their rapiers as they laughed maniacally followed after them. Seeing this, Rinoa immediately got her footing and began to run again only to notice that Squall wasn't with her.

She turned around to find the young man standing in the middle of the hallway about ready to meet head on with the skeletons. The others of the group took notice of this as well and looked on with Rinoa.

" METEOR!" The brunette shouted. The whole group behind him gasped as the magic invoked slaughtered the Forbiddens into tiny bone fragments. The danger was no more with in the matter of seconds.

Quistis walked up to the heavily breathing Squall. "How in Hyne's name did you do that?" She tried to turn the young man to face her, but instead his knees gave out and he fell forward onto the blonde's shoulder. "Squall?" The instructor was turning a bright shade of red.

Zell and Irvine both laughed at the scene before they noticed that the young man wasn't moving. They exchanged looks before they took it upon themselves to pick him off of the blushing instructor, each taking an arm, and leading him to the rented van.

Rinoa was so stunned that she hadn't moved. "_How come he never told us that he knew such high level magic?_"

Selphie walked over to her stunned leader and waved a hand in front of her face to try to get her attention. "Rinoa? you ready to go?"

The dark-haired girl nodded as she closed her mouth that had been hanging open for the past few minutes. "Selphie?" The younger girl turned upon hearing her name. "Did you know that he could do that?"

The shorter girl shook her head. "No, none of us did. That guy is a mystery to us all. First he shows us his superior fighting skills, then reads our minds, and now he does high level magic. I only know as much as you do."

"Rinoa!" The two hadn't noticed but they were the only ones left in the passage way, they looked up at the entrance to see Quistis calling to them. "Let's go now! We have the ID, now it's time to go see Mr. Loire!"

The two nodded and ran through the entrance and were greeted by the much welcomed light.

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

"Wow!" The guard at the gate looked at the two pieces of the ID card in astonishment. "You actually did it! ID# 346. I congratulate you." He saluted Rinoa before turning around and heading towards the mansion. "Now follow me."

Rinoa nodded and signaled for the group to follow. They were standing on the sidewalk a short distance away trying to get the still unconscious Squall to wake up. They turned there attention to their leader, nodded, and prepared for the long trek up to the front door.

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

The large group had been led to the study as soon as they got through the front door. Now they were waiting and had been waiting for almost thirty minutes. Unfortunately, when they came through the door, some of the servants of the house had recognized the unconscious Squall and had taken him from them. Though they didn't mind it, they knew that once the brunette woke up, he would mind.

"Hey!" Zell had been busy punching invisible enemies for the last few minutes, but suddenly stopped and sat on the couch by Quistis. "Do think he has woken up by now?"

Rinoa who had been looking out the window, turned at the sound of Zell's voice. "Out of all the things to talk about, you talk about HIM? Does it really matter?"

The rest of the group turned to look at her for the little outburst. All with shocked expressions.

"What?" Rinoa turned back around and looked back out the window.

Selphie shook her head and was about to say something when she sat on the desk, but only jumped back up when the study door flew open.

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

Squall felt warmth all around him. He stirred a little only to find that his arms were confined by blankets. "What the..." His eyes blinked open to find that he was under a very familiar ceiling.

"Hey son." It was that voice. The same voice that he never wanted to hear again. "Welcome home."

The young man quickly shot up in his bed and looked over at the man across the room. "What am I doing here?" His voice came out scratchy and somewhat weak, surprising both him and his father.

"From what I hear, those SeeD members downstairs dragged you in. What were you doing with them?" Laguna closed the distance between him and his son and was now sitting on the edge of his bed.

Squall glared at his father and jumped out of the bed. "It's none of your business..." As he started to put his jacket back on, his father took it from him.

"No." Laguna stared hard into his sons eyes. "I won't let you. From the scar on your forehead, I can only guess what kind of trouble you've been in and I won't allow you to travel with them anymore. I'm your father and I say..."

"Father?" Squall took advantage of his father's shocked expression as he mocked him. "Father? What kind of father thinks that he can use money to make his son happy? You've been no father to me..." As he bit out his final words, Squall stormed out of his room and slammed the door. Laguna was left fuming.

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

"Squall!" Almost the whole group moved from the various positions and crowded around him.

"What happened?" Squall looked at each of their faces. All of which were filled with a mixture of worry and relief. "The last thing I remember is being in the tomb, and then I got a rude awakening from Laguna...why are you all looking at me like that?"

"How did you do that?" Rinoa's weak voice just barely reached Squall.

"What?" He looked over at the dark-haired girl who had not moved from her position in front of the window.

"Ever since I have met you, it's been one surprise after another." She turned to the young man with a fixed glare. "Just what the hell are you?"

Squall returned the girl's glare in kind. He was about to reply when the door to the study opened once again. Only this time it revealed a very unhappy Laguna.

"Squall, leave the room. This does not involve you."

The angry brunette was about to protest when Rinoa strode across the room and intercepted the father and son quarrel.

Rinoa stood in front of Squall and stared straight into his angry eyes. "Squall, no arguing. Your father is right. Even though you showed us your many strengths, seeing as how you yourself don't even know anything about yourself you are too dangerous to have around. It would be best if you stayed here."

Squall's temper began to boil. He fought to keep his cool with clenched teeth and balled fists. He took a deep breath and headed towards the door where his father stood holding it open. A "Whatever..." was heard as the furious brunette stormed out the door, but they did not here his stomps echo up the stairs but out the front door instead.

Laguna was about to head to mansion's front door and catch his son before he got to far, but he felt a hand on his shoulder, halting his progress. Laguna turned to face a stern-faced Rinoa. The dark-haired girl shook her head and took her hand from his shoulder.

"There is no need to follow him. He's probably just going to walk around the block to let off steam or something."

Laguna shook his head. "Not with his track record. Knowing him he's gone off to the outskirts of the city to kill of monsters or..."

"To go face the sorceress on his own?" Piped Quistis who was now looking out the front window and watching the Squall's retreating shadow..."

"My son acts irrationally sometimes, but he's not that stupid." Laguna chuckled a bit but quickly put back on a straight face. "I'm sure you're right Rinoa, but let us get to business. The Sorceress will be having her parade circle the city..."

*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*

This whole situation made him angry. All this weird stuff was starting to happen to him and he had no idea why. All these questions were thrown at him and he couldn't answer one of them.

Squall looked up at the sky as a light drizzle began to fall. It did nothing to cool his anger. His father had no right to dictate what he did and did not do and that _girl_.

"_She had no right. They all need me. I don't want to be involved, but if that sorceress knows something about me and why I've been having these lapses of consciousness and if Seifer is still alive out there somewhere..._"

"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" Squall stumbled backwards after a man rudely shoved him to the side. Squall only sent an icy glare in return, but soon noticed why he had so suddenly ran into someone. A crowd was gathered and was flocking in front of the Deling president's mansion. "_For the parade, no doubt. I wonder how Laguna organized this stupid assassination...In fact I wonder why he even decided to involve himself..._"

Squall's thoughts were cut short as he turned around and noticed Laguna and the rest of the group discussing their plans by the gate. "_That's great, why don't they just wave a flag and shout 'We're planning something'. Laguna really needs to work on being more inconspicuous..._"

Loud music began to blare from behind Squall. He turned around and watched as the gates of the mansion began to open, allowing the public to have access to the mansion's front gardens. The president would be beginning soon and the sorceress would be making her big introductory speech.

"_It's a long shot, but maybe I can get to the sorceress and stop her before she makes her speech...It's risky, but..._" Squall turned and noticed Rinoa and Irvine making their way towards the mansion. "_Must be headed for a position on the mansion...More than likely Laguna feels that the clock area would be ideal for a sharpshooter to aim from and Rinoa is back-up in case Irvine misses his mark...My dad is so easy to read. The other three are no doubt in the gateway and will trap the sorceress so that they can have a motionless target._"

Squall sighed. He knew that if he could figure that out so easily the sorceress would probably expect it too. He would have to move quickly.

*`*`*

TBC...

*`*`*`*`*

CousinKitchen: Please don't hurt me if Squall is too OOC. I hope that he's not, but if he is that is due to being away from FFVIII for too long. Please R&R and thanks to my last reviewer. I knew someone out there would feel the same as I do. WHO CARES WHAT THE CHARACTERS SHOULD LOOK LIKE!!! THIS IS MY STORY!!!

I don't mean to sound mean, but I'm tired of those reviews...despite the lag in updates...that say that Squall and Rinoa should look different. Squall is too cute to change and I think Rinoa is just fine the way she is.

Now that I've reiterated exactly what I've said in the past I hope that maybe I can update some of my other stories before I loose all of my creative juices. Ja ne for now!


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